Well Wisher
by Black Star5
Summary: AU Jake's just found out about ThornRose. But a new friend hopes to make Jake's life a little happier, even if she has no idea how. Every wish has a cost. Is Jake's too expensive? JxR.
1. Survival of the Littlest

Cold. Undying cold. That's all she was aware of at the moment. Her eyes were frozen shut, or more accurately, her eyelashes were frozen together so she couldn't open her eyes without hurting her eyelids.

The snow had piled up around her so no one noticed she was even there. It was warmer than the wind, but no where near warm enough to keep the little female creature safe for much longer. She'd been there for an entire night, curled up in the snow drift left by the plow trucks.

Suddenly, she began to sense warmth to her side. After a moment that it didn't move, she reached out her long, slender, purple tinted hand. It came in contact with some rough material. It was rough, but the pile was warm. Much warmer than the snow, anyway.

She did what any creature in her position would do. She lifted her elfin body and climbed into the pile. Instinct would deny her to do anything else, and survival demanded it of her. As of that moment, rational thought that someone might see her wasn't an issue. Not even close.

But now, a good few hours later, she found herself very frightened. Someone had lifted the pack she'd hidden in and shoved it into a dark room. A small, dark room that seemed to have mechanical somethings working and growling around the outside of it and creatures talking and laughing above it. Her first thought was she'd been captured. Then she listened more closely. The creatures were teenaged, she realized. They didn't seem to be gloating over her capture. They didn't seem to even realize she was there.

Her heart hammered as the room lurched. Apparently, they'd been moving and she hadn't noticed. She heard the room above her become quite as someone, an older male from the sounds of it, began speaking of unloading. Panicked that she'd be discovered, she dived back into the pack she'd been hiding in as the room was filled with light and cold from outside.

Jake looked like someone had flattened his heart with a bulldozer. To find out something so… there were no words for the disappointment the American Dragon was feeling. Trixie and Spud were trying desperately to cheer him up. For him to be down more than a few minutes was unusual. The entire bus ride home had been downright scary. He'd pretended to be happy when people looked at him, but when he thought no one was looking, he curled up and revealed the hurt inside.

He picked up his pack from the new pile on the sidewalk that matched the one that had been at the ski resort. His heart was so heavy, it seemed his pack was a bit heavier than it had been before…

The little creature cowered down in her new cloth prison, too frightened to move. She had to admit, though, this person had a nice aura to them. It was strangely familiar though…

**END CHAPTER ONE: SURVIVAL OF THE LITTLEST**

If you liked it, review. If not, I won't continue. LOL I only saw this show recently, so please be lenient with me? I'm doing research so I'm not too far off of what's happening, but I'll probably get a lot wrong. Help is much appreciated! Thanks for your understanding. Forgive this one that can't afford cable.


	2. The Well Wisher

Jake threw his bag against the wall of his room and slammed the door shut. This was definitely not his day. He laid down on his bed to think when the phone rang. Jake knew who it would be on the other end when he heard his mom pick up. Then, as if on cue, she began calling out.

"Jake! Jake? Are you home? Grandpa says you didn't show up for training." She opened his door to see him lounging out. "Jake? Why aren't you at Grandpa's?"

Jake didn't answer for a while. He just stared at the ceiling. Mrs. Long got a worried then perturbed look. "Jake Long, I'm your mother and I asked you a question."

Jake knew that voice. It was her "no nonsense, now" voice. She wanted to know what was bothering him. He put his hands over his face and sighed.

"…Rose…" was all she could make out in the mumbled jumble that was Jake's answer. Her stony expression leaked pity.

"You're first break up." It sounded more like a sigh than a comment, no matter how far off the mark it was. "It'll be okay, Jake. You'll see. There are other fish, as they say." She looked at the deep sorrow in his eyes. "I'll tell Grandpa you aren't up for training today, but you've got to get over this, okay?"

He still didn't look at her as she left the room and trotted back downstairs. He turned his back to the door as he heard his mother arguing over the phone. He hoped there wasn't an emergency. He didn't feel like doing the M Dragon thing again today.

He just wanted a minute to let the horrible truth sink in. Though, he would have liked to deny it. He curled up against the thoughts and tried to blank out his mind.

For a moment, he was at the place he was before the stupid ski trip. Rose and he were a couple and everything was looking up for him. He was in a place of happiness. Then he heard it. A moving around in the corner of his room.

The little creature had heard the exchange between mother and son. She began to see away out of this place. She began humming in a pitch that no human would ever be able to hear with naked ears. The room filled with the pleasant vibrations and she could feel the boy relax. She began sneaking out of the bag, but her foot was asleep. As she tried to pull out the slender appendage, it got stuck between the two zipper threads. She fell to the ground with a not-exactly-graceful thump and froze.

Jake sat up and stared at the corner of the room where he'd thrown his bag. His eyes settled on a cowering, pale creature that was using long, slender arms to cover it's head.

"O-oh, p-please! Don't hurt m-me!" The tiny thing was shivering in terror.

Jake couldn't help the shock that swept over his face. How did that tiny little thing get in here? It was about half the size of his little sister; no, not even that.

He knelt down to the floor, still staring. "Hey. Don't worry. I'm not gonna hurt you. How did you get here?"

The little creature poked her head up, causing long lavender tresses of curls to fall back out of her ice-pale face. The jade green eyes blinking up at him looked confused for a moment before looking him up and down.

"This one climbed into the warm pile because the snow was too cold. This one was captured in the dark, loud room before this one hid in that bag." She pointed over to Jake's backpack.

Jake thought about what she'd just said. "So you were at the ski resort? What where you doing there?"

"This one doesn't remember a 'resort'. This one was running from a hunter before this one landed in the snow and passed out."

"A hunter? Was it a girl and an older guy?" Jake asked dismally, already "knowing" the answer.

The creature put a slender finger to her rounded chin. "This one doesn't think so. There was only one of them. But this one thinks they got this one's friend. This one might be the only one left now." She looked as depressed as Jake had felt earlier.

"Seems you're having my kind of day." He muttered sarcastically. He shook his head and turned his attention back to the creature before him.

"So, what are you? Do you have a name?" The blank, jade stare made him wonder which part of the questions she didn't understand. "What do others call you?" he asked slowly.

She pierced her lips together for a moment, as if debating telling him.

"This one's friend called this one the Well Wisher." Suddenly there was a knock on Jake's door.

"Jake! I heard you had a bad day! I'm going to cheer you up, big brother!"

**END CHAPTER 2: WELL WISHER**

I don't own the show; only the Well Wisher. Other than that, you know what to do if you want another chapter, huh:Angelic smile:


	3. Lily and Master

Jake looked at the door as his sister poked her head in.

"Haley, not now. I'm a little busy."

"With what?" Haley looked around his room. "What are you doing?"

Jake turned back to where the Well Wisher had been to see only his backpack. He began searching the room.

"It's dragon stuff, Haley. Besides, you shouldn't be in here right now." He opened the closet door and stuck his head in, searching for the little creature from before.

"OOH! Jake! She's SO CUTE!" Jake turned to see his little sister staring at the Well Wisher, which was currently hovering a few inches from her face.

The little creature turned to Jake. "This one thinks she is a dragon." She turned back to Haley. "Do you know where this one's home is? This one must get back."

Haley turned her head to the side. "Are you lost?"

"This one can only get home if this one's friend, the Lotus Dragon, can tell this one how to get back."

Jake grabbed the Well Wisher and began to shut the door, poking his face out long enough to tell Haley that he didn't need cheering up.

Haley "hmphed" and skipped down the stairs. "Jake! I feel I should remind you, mom specifically said no mythical creatures in the house."

Jake turned to the Well Wisher. "What's up wit that? You were all scared around me."

"This one is only looking for a way home. No one else is going to look after this one." The last part came out a bit defensively.

Jake looked down at the little thing that had stopped hovering. He scratched his head.

"Look, I don't know how things worked where you live, but there are two basic rules here. First, don't let people see you. Nobody. Especially hunters. Second, the Am-Drag protects all magical creatures in his territory, yo."

"Am-Drag?" The little creature tilted her head to the left.

"The American Dragon." Jake stated proudly.

"…Is that anything like this one's friend, Lotus Dragon?" She hovered up to Jake's face.

"Yo, I don't know nothing about this Lotus Dragon, but I guess I could be your friend." He smiled at her. "But, I think you're going to need a shorter name than 'Well Wisher.' It's just not cool."

Said creature looked up at Jake with amazement. "You're going to give this unworthy one a name?"

"Sure, why not?"

"This one can never thank you enough, Master! What will master call this one?"

Jake laughed at his new title, shrugging it off as some sort of game. "Well, you're white, and you kind of look like a fairy or a sprite. Mmm… How about Lily?"

The Well Wisher shivered. "Oh! This one likes that name! Lily thanks master!"

"Well, I guess I should take you to go see G. He's probably gonna know more about you. Then we can help get you back to where you belong."

The little creature's eyes began welling up with tears. "Master is so good to Lily!" She hugged his arm around the elbow and stared up at him with puppy dog eyes. "Lily owes Master a life debt for all Master has done!"

Jake shrugged. "Okay. Whatever. You have to hide in my back pack, though. People aren't really used to seeing guys with little Well Wishers tied to their arms."

**END CHAPTER THREE: LILY AND MASTER**

Don't own nuttin'. You know what to do if you want a new chapter!


	4. Many Things Once Dead

Time for shout outs. I'd had this story up for two days and I got more than 75 hits. Wow.

And my three reviewers are awesome, so I want to reply to them here because they are awesome and they reviewed. Thanx guys!

**Writingcat730**: Yah. I noticed that after I had her character planned out. I haven't read those books, but if he's anything like he is in the movie, Lily is both going to be very different and yet the same. Thanks so much for your kind words! Here's your chapter!

**Fudogg**: Rose is coming! I promise! But to get from A to C we have to go through B, get it? And I'm trying to make the Well Wisher a little more understandable, but odds are, she's going to be a bit of an oddity for a while. LOL. Thank you for reviewing honestly! A rare and beautiful quality!

**HORSELUVER101**: Your first question will be answered in this chapter, so I'm not going to spoil it. :wink: As for if you know how it's going to turn out… if you think it's going to be an easy trip from A to B to C, think again because I plan on having them take a few interesting detours along the way. LOL Thank you for your review. I love the curiosity.

Okay! **STORY TIME!**

As Jake entered his Grandpa's shop, he knew he'd be in trouble for missing the first… he checked his watch… 45 minutes of training. He figured it didn't matter right now. This little thing had been chased to him. He needed Grandpa to tell him what to do with it.

He yelled out. "Yo, G! Sorry I'm late!" He looked around. "Is anybody here?"

Suddenly he was hit from behind with a broom pole. "Yow! What the…?"

He turned to see his grandfather. "You are lucky I didn't use something bigger. Your mother told me you weren't even coming. Are you or are you not the American Dragon?"

"I am, but…"

"Then I expect you to be here on time every day to complete your training! Do you not understand?"

Jake sighed. "Yes. But, G, there's something I want to show you." He pulled off his backpack.

"I don't think its from New York, though. I know I've never seen anything like it."

He unzipped his back pack and opened it wide looking down at it. "Okay, that's your cue."

Grandpa looked on in mild interest. He noticed that the room filled with pleasant vibrations for a moment before they turned angry.

Suddenly she was out in front of him, staring him in the eyes. "You hurt Master." It was like a death toll on a sunny afternoon. Her eyes spoke of loathing unlike anything Jake had seen from such a small creature.

Fu dog chose this moment to come out from a storage closet with a book in his hand and a piece of paper in the other. He looked up at the little thing staring down grandpa and dropped both.

"Jake," Grandpa began, "Where did you find this… creature?" The tone he was using didn't give Jake any clue to whether this was a bad thing or a good thing.

"Ah… She sort of followed me home from the ski resort." Suddenly he remembered why he had decided to skip training that day. He sighed. "I also found out who Thorn from the Huntsclan is."

He'd been so wrapped up in his own mind right then he didn't notice Fu dog and Grandpa having a conversation with their eyes. Lily was still staring down her "arch foe" from behind Jake's legs.

"How long has it been?" Grandpa asked, studying the three markings on the Well Wisher's head carefully. Where two eyebrows should have been there were only two dark dots and between them was a tear shaped jewel.

Jake looked up. "I just found out toda-…"

"More than 400 years." Fu dog replied, not paying Jake any attention. "The last one was spotted in south China almost 450 years ago."

Jake's eyebrows shot up. "The last _what_?"

"The last Well Wisher. I should know. Bu-Gu, the last one, was my friend. But after her 5,000 wishes were used up…" He let the sentence drop.

"Well Wishers became extinct when humans began to realize that when they through a coin into the home of a Well Wisher, which was usually at the bottom of a dry well in the warmer parts of Southeast Asia, Their dreams would come true, but at a price. Well Wishers are creatures that can only make a wish come true if either the owner of the wish gives up something of equal value, or if the Well Wisher cares enough about the person to give up something themselves. That's what started the tradition of throwing coins into wishing wells. They can each only grant 5,000 wishes before their magic is used up and they die."

"So, Lily's from south Asia? Then… how did she get here?"

"It is likely that she was born here." Fu dog picked the book up and put it on a counter as Grandpa continued. "Well Wisher's often return to the place where they were born every so many years to strengthen their bonds with their lineage."

"I don't think so. She said she was lost. It didn't seem like she'd ended up here on purpose."

Grandpa had begun staring at the little creature who had gotten bored with the conversation and begun looking around the shop, pausing at certain items she recognized.

"Well Wisher." He called out to her. "Where is your home?"

She looked at him then crossed her slender arms over her chest. "This one's name is Lily." She stuck her tiny nose in the air. She didn't intend to let the older dragon have the privilege of her trust after openly attacking her master like that; even if her master did seem to respect him.

"Lily? Who named you?" Fu dog asked, surprised.

Lily smiled with a happy glow causing the white tear-like gem in her forehead to twinkle slightly. "Lily's name was given to Lily by Master." She hugged Jake's arm.

Fu dog glared at Jake. "What's wrong with you? Don't you realize what a name does when you give it to a Well Wisher?"

Jake shrugged. "Since no one's seen one for almost 500 years, I have to say I have no idea."

"It makes her believe she is your slave. It's in her nature. Well Wishers believe a name is sacred; it symbolizes separation from the group, status, if you will. They believe they owe their namers something of equal value, so they give them their undying trust and service." Grandpa explained patiently. "Well Wisher's very being is about equal give and take. It's what makes their powers so special."

"So that's why she started calling me master." Jake said thoughtfully. "Is there anyway for me to just, you know, release her?"

"No." Fu replied. "The only way she'll leave you alone now is if she does something she believes is equal to the name you gave her." He sighed. "Some Well Wishers never left their masters because they learned to love them, and always wanted to be there to see that they were happy. It caused a huge decrease in numbers that lead to the end of their kind."

"Which leads me to my next question," Jake interrupted. "If there are no more, how did she get here?"

"Lily was born in China." Lily looked at Jake from her place just above his shoulder. "In '_Chinese phrase_,'" She looked towards the door. "Lily was trying to help this one's friend."

"Okay… did anybody who speaks Chinese catch that?" Jake looked at Grandpa.

"She's not speaking modern Chinese. She said she's from the Sacred Lotus Dragon Shrine. She used the old name for it, though."

Fu dog glared at the little Well Wisher. "That's not funny. Not even a little bit."

Lily cocked her head to the left. "Lily wasn't trying to make you laugh."

"What he meant," Grandpa edged in before Fu could reply, "Is that he thought the Shrine had been destroyed by Hunters seeking the last Well Wisher's colony that existed."

"Lily doesn't remember that, but Lily knows that Lotus Shrine is now located in an old 'Wisher colony." Her eyes turned misty for a moment. "The shrine is protected by Lily's friend, Lotus Dragon."

Grandpa and Fu were strangely silent for a moment.

"The… Lotus… Dragon?" Fu scratched his head. "That line died out long ago… didn't it?"

"Apparently many things once thought dead are very much alive."

**END CHAPTER 4: MANY THINGS DEAD**

Yeah, I know I got side tracked. This is a chapter basically to let you know why Lily is the way she is and it'll also give a little background when I go into the main meat of the story. :Angelic Smile: Please review if you like it and want me to continue. This chapter was about triple the size of the others. Heh he...


	5. Trials of an American Dragon

It's that time again! I'm so glad my readers are taking such an interest in this story. Confusion is just another part of learning and discovery, right? I've officially had more than 150 hits! WHEE!

**Writingcat730**: I really like your reviews. They let me know you really read the chapter! You have a lot of updating for AM:JL stories yourself! Impressive!

**Fudogg**: You got it exactly. I was trying to make it that they all got so wrapped up in the "extinct" creature that they totally forgot about Jake's big news. I wanted to sort of build that chapter round Lily and bring Rose in later. Don't worry, we're sorting things out here. P.S. Was that a hint that I was supposed to use grandpa's name? LOL You're so cool.

**HORSELUVER101**: Yes, the Lotus Dragon has a name, but Lily's not telling, for some reason. If anything is confusing, please feel free to ask! I'd love to answer any questions that I haven't covered… so long as I don't plan to feature them later. :wink:

**STORY TIME!**

Jake had completed training for the day and was getting ready to leave when he remembered what he needed to tell his grandfather.

His grandfather had said he would contact the Dragon Council to inform them of the survival of the Well Wisher and the interesting news she brought. Jake hadn't remembered to share Thorn's identity because of all the other things swimming around his head.

Jake remembered as he left because he'd been thinking about how Rose was supposed to call him later that night. He'd felt an aching twinge in his heart and the ski trip came flooding back to him.

He walked up to the roof of the building, looking for his grandfather. Lao was up there, as well as Fu, quietly discussing something. Jake cleared his throat.

"Ahm. G? I was trying to tell you earlier… I found out who Thorn from the Huntsclan was today." He took a deep breath.

"Huntsgirl's true identity?"

Fu sort of stared, dumbfounded. "This has been a day, huh?"

Jake looked down at the roof.

"…Rose."

"I see." Grandpa had his back to Jake, so Jake couldn't tell what emotion that had brought forward, and he didn't really want to see pity, so he just stood there awkwardly for a moment.

"Well… see you tomorrow… I guess." Jake turned and walked back down the stairs.

"Poor kid." Fu commented.

"This is just one of the many trials he will face as the American Dragon."

"Yah, but something like this so soon after he became the dragon…"

"It is difficult to grow up so quickly; but I believe it his better for him to have found out now, than for them to be together for so long and find out at a wedding rehearsal."

"I guess you got a point there."

Jake picked up his backpack, where Lily was currently sleeping. When he got on his skateboard and took off, she woke up and stuck her head out of his bag.

"Master? Is Lily allowed to get something to eat?" The cautious tone she was using made him wonder why she was asking. Did she always have to ask before she ate?

"We'll get something when we get home. Mom usually has dinner done when I get back from training."

"What will Master be eating?"

Jake sighed. Already he didn't like the title. "Look, Lily, no offense but you gotta stop calling me that."

"What?" He could feel her leaning further out trying to look at his face.

"Don't call me master anymore. My name is Jake. Jake Long. But Jake is fine."

"Lily is sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Just don't call me master."

Lily thought for a moment. "Master Jake? Is Lily riding in the cloth bag tomorrow, too?"

Jake sighed. "No, Lily. Tomorrow, if I can help it, you're staying home."

"Home!" Jake could feel her shiver in excitement.

"My home." He hadn't meant it to come out so cold, but it had.

"Oh… Lily supposes that will be alright… if Master Jake thinks so."

"Lily, what did I tell you?"

"Master Jake told Lily not to call him 'Just Master'. Lily listens good!" She giggled a tinkling laugh and Jake couldn't help but let out a small groan.

'For being in my service, she sure insists on doing things her own way…'

-:-

Rose picked up the phone again. The last three times she'd called Jake's house, his mother had said he was helping at his grandfather's. Rose was beginning to wonder if something was wrong. He hadn't even sat next to her on the bus on the way home from the ski trip and he didn't say anything to her before he left.

She put the phone back down. Her hunter instincts reminded her that she just needed to be patient. She'd left her number so he could call her when he got home. If you're too eager, the prey will slip away.

She shook her head. Since when did she think of Jake as prey? She was getting too deep into her work lately, she realized. When she finally got the American Dragon and proved herself among the Huntsclan, she decided she'd take a long vacation. Probably somewhere in the tropics.

'Maybe I can convince Uncle to let me invite Jake.' Just then, she tensed. Someone was coming up the stairs.

She relaxed as she recognized the light tread of her Uncle's footsteps. She called out for him to enter before he even knocked.

"I have received news that our friends in China found their primary target."

Rose smiled, bitterly. She appreciated her cousins' skill as hunters, but… She'd hoped to achieve her goal of capturing the American Dragon before her younger cousins accomplished their goal in China. Her uncle seemed pleased by this. "Don't worry. You're not falling far behind. They found their target, but the dragon and it's charges were already gone. They're chasing it now. They think it's headed in this direction." Rose's smile turned joyous.

"Then, if I were to find their targets first…" Her uncle chuckled.

"They would have to prove themselves with three more tasks. Sleep well, Thorn. If you plan to catch this dragon, you'll need all the rest you can get." Rose didn't understand what he meant, but didn't get the chance to ask. Just as he turned to leave, the phone in her room began to ring.

She made sure to let it ring twice before calmly picking up the receiver.

"Hello? Jake! What's up?"

-:-

Jake heard her voice and for a moment forgot that they were mortal enemies. Surely someone with such an angel's voice couldn't really be a hunter.

"Hey, Rose! Not much. I just got back from helping my grandpa."

"Oh? That's so nice of you, Jake. Hey, Jake? I noticed you were… I don't know… A little distant on the way home. Is something wrong?"

Jake swallowed hard. 'Of course she'd notice.' "Oh, I just didn't feel so good. I think it was all the cold. I'm alright now, though. Thanks for worrying about me." He mentally smacked himself. 'Thanks for worrying about me?' what is this, a Soap Opera?

Rose didn't seem to care. "It's was no problem, Jake. I just thought, you know, that you'd like to spend that time with me, and you didn't." She crossed her fingers. 'Surely that came across as a hint!'

Jake swallowed again. Was she hinting that she wanted to go out with him again? If he didn't, would she think it was suspicious? If he did, would she still be suspicious? "Umm… I've gotta go, Rose. I'll see you at school?"

Rose tried not to let the disappointment color her voice. "Yah. I'll be there."

They didn't know it, but they both sighed as they hung up the phone.

Jake trudged up to his room. "What am I gonna do?"

Lily was in his closet, eating some strawberries Jake had snuck from the fridge. When she saw the troubled look on his face, she stopped eating and crawled out.

"Master Jake? What's wrong? Is there something this one can do?" She hovered up to his face and pushed a stray lock of hair from his eyes.

"No, Lily. Not unless you can fix broken hearts and make Rose not be a hunter." With that he plopped back on his bed.

If he hadn't had his eyes closed, he would've seen Lily suddenly absorb herself in thought. He would've also been awake long enough to see her sneak out of his room and down the hall.

**END CHAPTER 5: TRIALS OF AN AMERICAN DRAGON**

Well, I understand that this one is a bit…fluffy. Maybe just a bit, but it was fluffy. I'm new at fluff, so I don't expect raves over this chapter. If you'll notice, slowly the chapters are becoming longer. And if you are confused about something, please ask about it. I don't know what I didn't elaborate on if you don't ask, and then I can't fix it!

If you like what you see,

Here's what you do,

You read this for free,

Now it's time to review.


	6. Lily's Plan

It's another chapter! In less than six hours! Whee! I've had 177 hits on this story. Does that mean a lot of people like it or a lot of people don't because they aren't reviewing? Oh well. Since they aren't reviewing bad stuff, I'm counting it as blessings. Nyah-nah.

**Writingcat730**: Thank you. I thought it would be a good idea. Let's hope my ideas with Rose continue to be good ones! You'll find out the answer toyour question in this next segment! If Jake thought things were confusing before, just wait until he sees what Lily's got in store!

**HORSELUVER101**: Yup. Looks like Jake's gonna have his hands full! LOL Thank you so much for the compliment. But I'm serious. Any questions at all; or any suggestions; and I'll do my best to reply in a way you or any other reader understands. What's the point in having a story if no one understands it?

**STORY TIME!**

She realized that in order to repay her debt to her master, Lily was going to have to get her act of payment right the first time. In order to do that, she needed to know more about her master. In other words, she needed some help.

Lily looked under each doorway in the hall until she spotted a dark room with off white carpeting. She put her ear to the door. There was definitely someone in there… and their breathing didn't sound like they were Jake's size…

She turned the doorknob very slowly and let the door ease open. The light from the hallway spilled across a small bed with a small person laying on it.

Haley sat up. "Who's there?" She reached over and turned on her bedside lamp.

"Shh! Lily needs to speak with you, little dragon." She pushed the door shut behind her.

Haley's eyes turned round and then she smiled. "What can I help you with? Jake never asks for my help. What do you need?"

Lily hovered over and sat on the baby blue covers with pink and purple fairy dragons flying all over it. "Lily needs to know about Master Jake."

Haley tilted her head slightly. "What do you want to know?"

"Well… Lily needs to know what Master Jake does everyday and how he does it… and this one could also use any information you have about a Miss Rose."

"Well, Jake goes to the same school as Rose. That's where they met. I don't know too much about her… Jake just started talking to her on the phone all of a sudden. I think they're dating."

"Does Master Jake go to this _school _often?"

"Everyday, except weekends and vacations. And there was that time mom let him stay home because he was sick. I told him he shouldn't eat the lunchmeat, but he doesn't listen very well."

"Does Miss Haley know how Lily can go to this school with Master Jake?"

"You'd need to enroll as a student. And you'd have to pretend to be human… and grow a few feet."

"How does Lily… enroll?"

"You take your birth certificate, shots records and a few other things to the office and they get you enrolled. The process is a little different for exchange students though. They just need the birth certificate or proof that you were born where you say you were, past school records and a medical history to enroll."

"Can Miss Haley get those things for Lily?"

"What! Wait a minute! That's illegal!"

"Oh, please, Miss Haley? This one will grant the Grand Dragon, Miss Haley any wish she wants! Please?"

"Any wish?" Haley rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Yes. With this one's blessing."

"Alright. I'll help you."

Lilly wrapped her arms around Haley's neck. "Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Haley pulled a jacket from her closet an plugged up the hole beneath her door. "Dad checks up on me right before he goes to sleep, but he won't come in if there's no light under the door. He thinks he'll wake me."

Haley then went to the computer on her homework desk in the corner. "What country do you want to be from?"

"Umm… Lily was born in China…"

"You do have a slight accent. Okay, China it is." She began pulling things up on the computer that Lily didn't understand.

After a few hours, Haley began printing out some things that looked very interesting to Lily.

"Okay. I've sent your application to Jake's school. I have down that your from a small village in the Himalayas, that way anything you don't understand can be blamed on your distant and un-modernized upbringing. Now about my wish…"

"Anything whatsoever Miss Haley wants." Lily confirmed, bowing respectfully.

"…I'll have to think on it. There are just too many wonderful things I'd like! In the meantime, can I ask how you're going to impersonate a 14 year old human? It's not common for them to be so small, you know."

Lily winked cutely. "Well Wisher magic." She pulled a small bag of something from behind her back and shook it, making a jingling noise. "Left to Lily by this one's ancestors."

-:-

Jake woke up to find the Well Wisher snuggled against his arm, holding it in a death grip and sleeping soundly. The alarm clock by his bed told him it was five minutes before it would go off. He smacked it to make sure it wouldn't

"I must've conked out early last night." he muttered, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

"Hey, Lily. Wake up. I gotta go." Jake began prying the little Well Wisher off of his arm. "What are you doing in my bed, anyway?"

Lily sat up and yawned. "Lily wanted to sleep near master… Master Jake was moving around too much… Lily couldn't sleep." With that, she was curled up in Jake's blanket and fast asleep again.

Jake scratched his head. "O-okay. Well, I have to go to school. You stay out of trouble, Lily."

He grabbed some clothes from the pile in his closet and ran to the bathroom before going downstairs for some breakfast.

Lily opened one eye. "Master?" she whispered. Then she smiled.

"Lily won't get in trouble. Lily will not disobey. Lily is going to school with Master Jake."

-:-

Rose watched for Jake at her locker. He had to come this way to make it on time to their first class. She watched for the black hair with green highlights that she knew to be her crush with eyes that had easily spotted shape shifters outside their true form. There was no way he'd get by without her noticing.

Trixie and Spud were waiting as well. They watched the hallway with vigilance in hopes of cornering Jake. They were determined to cheer him up, and Trixie had thought of just the thing, but she wanted it to be a surprise.

"Okay, Spudinky, when Jakey-boy comes up, we gotta make sure we get his attention real good'n solid, a'ight? No more thinkin' about his ex-home girl, a'ight?"

"But, I don't think about his ex-home girl, dude. That's just out there, man."

That's when Jake walked in the double doors. He didn't seem like the old Jake, though. He opened his locker and Trixie pounced.

"Hey, Jakey! What's crackalatin'?"

"Hi, Trixie." Trixie had to keep from doing a double take for a minute. This didn't seem like the Jake she knew. This guy was all monotone and stuff.

"Yo, Jake. What's happen'n, dude?" Spud, of course.

"Yo, Spud. We're gonna be late if we keep hangin' 'round out here," he said noncommittally.

"Dude, you mean I might actually be on time for a class today? Sweet."

Jake wasn't paying any attention. He'd looked up to see Rose waving at him from her locker.

"Jake! Jake! Over here! Can I talk to you for a second?" She looked from Trixie to Spud, the former of which was giving her something very close to a stink eye, while the latter seemed to be partially hiding behind the first, muttering something about hypnosis and mind wipe.

Jake looked from one to the other. "'T's okay, guys." Trixie grabbed Spud's arm.

"Come on, Spudinky. We gotta get ta class anyway."

Rose pushed a stray piece of hair out of her face. "Umm… can we go somewhere a little more private?"

Jake nodded and they walked to an empty hallway. Rose stopped and wheeled around.

"Jake, I was thinking last night… and I think I know what's bothering you. Can we meet, you know, after class?"

Jake looked up at her. The lost and hopeless look in his eyes made her heart crack. "Sure. I guess so. Can I ask what you want to talk about?"

"Well, you know… I don't want you to be mad… about… you know…" she leant close to his ear and whispered, "…my secret."

Jake's head shot up so fast, she was sure he'd get whiplash. "Look, Rose, I…" She put a hand to his mouth to quiet him and grabbed both of his hands in hers.

"Don't worry. It's okay. We can't talk about it in public, but I'll explain about it later." She squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, but it's sort of difficult. Let's talk after class, okay? I'll tell you everything. Jake, I really don't want this to come between us."

She walked away and began looking for Courtney. Jake felt his heart turn ice cold.

'She thinks I'm mad at her for keeping her identity a secret. How ironic.'

-:-

The bell rang and several students began racing to their classes. One was left holding a piece of paper and she began looking for an office. She was wearing a bleached jean skirt with some embroidery and a black tee shirt with princess shoulders. It had a white and silver lily on the front and her shoes were white and purple sneakers.

Soon the raven haired girl found it. She opened the door with the same lettering on it that was on the paper she was holding and poked her head in to see a secretary.

"Hello. Is the principal in? Lily is the new exchange student from China."

**END CHAPTER 6: LILY'S PLAN**

Yah, some of this isn't realistic, but I used some of my artistic license powers to stretch the truth because I don't know exactly what it takes for a foreign student to be able to come to school in America. But that's besides the point. The main elements of this chapter are Rose's misunderstanding and Lily's adventurous, and mischievous, spirit. Our dear friend Jake is about to have his hands full. LOL This could get interesting, folks.

Did you like what I made?

I did it for you.

Don't leave me in the shade.

Just leave me a review.


	7. School Day of Chaos

Holy… 228 hits and 11 reviews. Is this thing on! That's awesome! Thanks to everyone for reading! You're all awesome! Now for the must do's.

**Writingcat730**: Make things worse? You have no idea. :evil chuckle: As for how she found out, I'm thinking she's gotta be pretty sharp if she's the Huntsgirl. It's her job to stay one step ahead of her prey, and I'm pulling out of the air that since she's young, she probably jumps to conclusions a lot, being pretty sure of herself, and all. Like she's so certain that Jake's not the dragon, you know? Love the question! Any more:Puppy dog enthusiasm:

**Fudogg**: No prob. I put the next one up too soon. My bad. I liked both of those parts too. I wanted to show that things had suddenly gone in a very different direction from what they were. I mean, finding out her identity really shook the roof, you know?

_**Warning** I have a feeling I'm going to get yelled at because Mr. Rotwood's in this and he doesn't have his "accent." I'm very sorry. I tried to get it in there, but my computer's on auto correct and it changes the words that aren't in another language to their "proper" spelling and I don't know how to turn it off. Sorry._

Note:

Lian means lotus, Jie means Pure and Le means Joy. If you put that in the Chinese way a name would be said it would be Jie-Le Lian; Pure Joy Lotus. I just thought it would be nice to tell you what that means. Befitting, don't you think? LOL I pretended Haley gave her that name, since there was really no point to putting that into the story.

**STORYTIME!**

The secretary looked up after a moment. "Yes, yes. Lian Jie-Le+. Your exchange name is Lily Kim. I've got your profile right here. It was a bit short notice, you know, for an exchange student. But I guess with grades like yours we can make an exception." She hit a button on the phone in front of her.

"Sir, the exchange student is here."

Lily heard movement in the next room before a man walked out with a cheerful smile on his face.

"Why hello there, Miss Jie-Le! Welcome to New York Central Middle School. I hope you'll find your time here very educating and enjoyable." He handed her some papers. "This is your class schedule. I'll show you to your first hour. Ah! You have Mr. Rotwood now. This way."

"Is Lily in the same class as Master Jake?"

The man looked at her with a strange expression for a moment, then looked at the paper in his hand. "I believe so, yes. But there are other children in this class. How big were the classes in your old class, Miss Jie-Le?"

Lily shrugged. "Just Lily and a few friends. Never many people around."

"Ah. That explains your grades. A lot of one-on-one teacher assistance, huh? Well, we might have a good bit more people, but if you need anything at all, the teachers will be glad to offer you any assistance you need. " He stopped in front of a door. "Here we are. Good luck, Miss Jie-I mean Miss Kim." He began walking away, leaving Lily to go in on her own.

Lilly knocked on the door. "Enter!" She slowly opened the door, uncertain of what to expect. She first noticed all the desks. She then noticed all the people. It occurred to her that the people had noticed her because they were looking at her. Instinct screamed 'Run! Run now!' but her eyes settled on a nearly-snoozing Jake and all instinct fled. She walked in shyly.

"Ah. Hello. You must be our new exchange student. Everyone, please welcome Miss Kim of China. She's joining us from the Himalayas. Please take a seat next to… MR. LONG! STOP SNOOZING AND PAY ATTENTION!"

Lily glared at the older man. How dare he! Ordering around Master Jake like that!

"Lily does not believe all that is necessary." She said it in a confident tone. Mr. Rotwood thought she was trying to look brave. He didn't realize she was trying to passively reprimand him.

"Fine. Please take your seat." Lily walked calmly to where he indicated and sat down with a small flourish, as if she didn't need him to tell her that. Several of the students began whispering and Lily felt a strange heat in her face that she wasn't used to. 'What's this? Lily doesn't feel sick… why is it so warm?'

Then he handed her a book and began a lecture. Jake hadn't really woken up through the whole thing. He was still a little out of it, but he stared curiously at the new girl.

'She looks familiar… and she talks familiar… she kinda reminds me of… No. No way. It couldn't be. I told her to stay at home.' His worst fears were confirmed when the new girl turned and looked at him. She smiled for a moment, then winked.

'…I'm gonna kill her.'

Jake wasn't the only one who'd noticed this exchange. Rose could feel her insides start to boil. 'Who does she think she is! Jake is mine!'

-:-

The bell rang and Lily jumped. A few people giggled and Lily blushed again. A couple of boys were offering to walk her to her next class, but she didn't have time to answer.

Jake grabbed her arm and began pulling her out of class.

"What are you doing here!" They were now in the empty hallway near the janitorial closet.

"Lily came to watch Master Jake."

"I told you to stay at home!"

"Master Jake told Lily to stay out of trouble, not stay at home. Lily's not getting into trouble, see?" She held up her hands as if he could literally see that she was innocent.

"You will be if anyone figures out who or what you are!" he hissed. "Go home, Lily!"

"But-," Suddenly, Rose was coming toward them.

"Jake! What's going on? Oh! Hi! My name's Rose!" The last part was directed at Lily. Rose was now standing next to Jake, one of her arms around his. Her eyes turned icy for a moment before she smiled again.

"…So _you_ are Miss Rose?"

"The one and only." She held out the hand that wasn't python-ed around Jake's to shake with Lily. "Has Jake said anything about me?"

"Master Jake did say you were the…"

"_Master_?" Rose stared at her, then Jake. "Jake, is there something you want to tell me?"

Lily smiled and began answering. "Lily is Master Jake's…"

"She's staying with my family as a part of the exchange program!" Jake cut in. "She's from China. She calls everyone in our house 'master'. We told her not to, but…" He shrugged his shoulders. "Apparently, it's a sign of respect. I bet she got the words wrong. You know, from Chinese to American?"

Rose cast a final suspicious glance at Lily before smiling down at Jake. "Oh. I didn't know you were taking in an exchange student!"

"Heh. Neither did I. It just sort of happened."

"Oh! Don't you hate it when parents spring surprises like that on you? It's like, the least they could do is warn you. So anyway, we're still meeting later, right?"

"Yeah. Sure." He waved at Rose as she disappeared around a corner. Then he turned back to Lily.

"How DID you get into school, anyway?"

"Lily promised little dragon a wish if little dragon would help Lily." She smiled at him as if expecting praise.

"Little dragon? Little… dragon… H-HALEY? What did she wish for?"

"Little dragon hasn't decided yet." Jake groaned.

"What next?"

-:-

Rose found Courtney and they headed to their next class. Courtney kept trying to get Rose's attention, but Rose kept spacing out.

She kept thinking about what made her realize that Jake knew her secret. She thought back on the ski trip and realized how she hadn't been as careful as she usually was, and of course, when she disappeared, Jake would've come looking for her, right? That's when she figured he'd found out. He probably didn't realize what he'd found out, the loveable goofball, but he knew she was keeping something.

'I'm not gonna loose him because he thinks I'm keeping a malicious secret. It's better to get this out in the open now. Besides, I know I can trust Jake.' She sighed contentedly with her conclusion. 'You can't trust anyone if you can't trust Jake.'

-:-

Jake led Lily through the next two classes like a puppy on a leash. She was an adventurous spirit, and she wanted to explore, but Jake wouldn't hear of it. When they finally made it to lunch, Jake began receiving more than a few death glares from a few boys.

He sat down with Trixie and Spud, plopping down with an exhausted sigh. Lily sat down next to him without question, holding the tray he'd helped her get.

Trixie looked from her to Jake. "Jakey? Who's this?"

Jake looked up with a questioning look on his face, then remembered he hadn't introduced them to Lily.

"Oh. Guys, this is Lily. Lily, this is Trixie and Spud."

"Yo."

"What's up?"

"Nice to meet you, Master Jake's friends Trixie and Spud."

Spud was so surprised at that last part he squirted milk out his nose. "Bro, she just called you master." He began wiping his face.

"Jakey, is there som'n goin' on that you ain't tell'n us?"

"It's nothing you guys will like and nothing you won't know all about later." He glanced at the rest of the lunchroom for emphasis. It was basically code for "Not here, not now."

Trixie nodded. "A'ight. So when are you gonna tell us?"

"Later."

Lily was poking something that the menu said was supposed to resemble mashed potatoes.

"Master Jake? Is this stuff edible?"

"No, but they like to pretend it is." Jake motioned towards the kitchens.

Lily continued to poke it.

"Man, I wouldn't do that. You poke the dreaded sludge, it might poke back, man." Lily promptly dropped her fork.

"Lily needs food, but not poisoned." She stuck her tongue out.

"Hey, what class you got next?" Trixie asked Lily.

Jake picked up the paper before Lily could. "She's got Art. Oh, man! We're in different classes! There's no way I can keep an eye on her from across the school!"

Trixie lifted one eyebrow.

"I said later, remember?"

"Oh. Right." She thought for a minute. "Hey, Spudinky. Don't you have art next?"

"Yeah." She looked at Jake as if to say, 'Problem solved.'

"Hey, Spud, can you keep an eye on Lily next hour? Just make sure she doesn't cause trouble or draw too much attention to herself."

"Dude, you can count on me, bro."

"I can't wait to hear what the explanation for all this is." Trixie muttered.

"You and me both." Jake replied. "Thanks, Spud. I could use the break."

-:-

The final bell finally rang. Jake met with Trixie, who'd watched Lily last period.

"Thanks, Trixie."

"No prob-lamo. Just tell me what this is all about. Is it… Rose?" Jake shook his head.

"No, but thanks for reminding me. She said she wanted to talk to me after school. She's probably waiting for me right now." He looked at Lily who was watching all the bright colors cross the hallway. She'd really become interested in what people where wearing that day. No two people where the same.

"Listen, Trixie, I hate to ask you guys again, but could you…?"

"Take her to the skate park with us?"

"Please?"

Trixie sighed. "Alright. But I ain't no babysitter. If she's coming, she's gonna havta learn to skate or sit and watch."

"Fine by me. Maybe that will keep her occupied." Jake watched her observe everything that day. He didn't understand why taking in every detail in every classroom was important, but he didn't understand why she'd followed him, either, so that was nothing new.

They all left together and split up at the door. Jake spotted Rose next to the bus stop. He turned around to make sure Lily was gone to see her disappear around a corner, being led by an invisible force. She kept looking at him. He didn't get it. Why did she have to always be with him? 'What a weird creature…'

Rose waved him over. "Hey, Jake! Wanna go to the park?" He just nodded and they began walking.

**END CHAPTER 7: SCHOOL DAY OF CHAOS**

Well, this chapter is one of my funnier ones. I realize I'm probably a little off on Trixie's and Spud's characters. Forgive me. That's why this story is JaRo. I don't know as much about Trixie and Spud as I do them. My apologies.

If you want chapters in the new,

go ahead and review.


	8. I'm Begging You Believe Me!

It's yet another less-than-twelve-hours-til I update thing! I now have 270 hits on my story! Whoopie:Does record hits on a story dance: I've never gotten so many hits! Thank you!

**Writingcat730**: I love you're poem! Way cool! You get to read the interesting conversation right here today! Although, I don't think I gave it it's full potential… Let me know, okay?

**HORSELUVER101**: Is this soon enough? LOL. I'm so glad you stuck with me through the confusing parts! That means a lot to me! And no body's flamed me about accents yet! Whoopie!

_**Warning: **When you see the paragraphs in italics, that's a flash back. We're going to have three in this chapter, and they're all from back in the story. I cut them as short as I could without taking out key text, but they're still pretty long. You can skip over them if you've read and remember the chapters, though. Just warning you._

**Here we go! STORY TIME!**

Jake and Rose were walking quietly. Rose was silently berating herself.

'You've fought with creatures 10 times your size, Rose, and you can't even tell the guy you like who you really are? What's wrong with you?' Jake was beginning to be able to read her struggle in her eyes.

He looked up ahead and saw a snow cone vendor. "Umm… hey, Rose? You want one?"

She nodded quietly and he got her a strawberry kiwi. Sweet and tart. Roses and thorns.

She took a deep breath. "Jake? You know how Superman and Wonder Woman… have secret identities? And while they're in costume, they fight bad monsters and things? And Batman uses the cover of darkness to protect his city?"

Jake nodded. What could he say? I'm not evil, you are? I'm a dragon who's protecting the innocent creatures you're trying to kill?

He couldn't look her in the face, so he continued eating his Dream-sicle snow cone. Orange and vanilla. Citrus and candy. Dream-Sicle and Strawberry Kiwi really weren't all that different, he decided. Just the flavors.

Rose continued to think of how to explain this, believing that Jake had no idea that mythical creatures did exist.

"Jake? What if I told you dragons did exist? And unicorns and goblins and things?"

Jake had to suppress a bitter smile. If only she knew. But now, she never could. His life, and the lives of the creatures he was protecting, depended on it.

He mustered the courage to look her in the face. "I'd say that that's cute…"

"But?" Rose prompted, prepared for the worst.

"I… I don't…" Why couldn't he just say something? It's over? You're too immature for me? Something? But, in light of her honesty, he couldn't bring himself to tell her such a lie. It just didn't seem fair.

"…believe me?" She asked sadly. He couldn't even nod. She began thinking.

'I know it's true. I wouldn't believe me either if I were in his position. He's never even seen… That's it!' Rose's face suddenly lit up. If he didn't believe her, he'd have to believe his own eyes! She'd take him to see her battle it out with the American Dragon! She'd win in front of him, prove herself, and become an official member of the Hunstclan all in one night! It was fool proof!

"Jake." She grabbed his hand and turned him toward her. "I can prove it. Promise to go out with me one last time and I'll prove that I'm telling the truth. Please, Jake? For me?"

He looked at the ground. What was he going to say? No, I have to be there to stop you so I can't go with you?

He sighed deeply. "Alright. One last date." 'For both of us,' he thought bitterly.

Rose squeezed his hands. "Thank you, Jake. Thank you so much. I won't let you down. Meet me here, in the park at 7 tomorrow night, okay? Thank you, Jake. It will be the most memorable night of your life! I promise!"

She ran off, then, leaving him standing alone in the park with a melting orange slush cone in his hand. 'Memorable? No doubt. In a good way? Not with my current lucky streak. Not a snowball's chance in a volcano.'

"Why do I keep doing this to myself?"

-:-

Trixie and Spud had decked Lily out in some pads and a helmet and rented a pair of skates.

"Dude, why didn't we just get her a board, Trixie?"

"She's a newbie. Besides, there's a ring for new inline skaters over on the south end of the park, Spudinky. They don't have one for boarders."

"So in other words…"

"We're putting her in a playpen. I just wish and pray that she doesn't embarrass us. Jakey owes us for this." They got to the obstacle course like park and showed Lily the basics. Forward, brake and slow. After a few minutes they went over to the half pipe and began boarding.

They got really into their boarding and almost didn't notice the crowd that was gathering. Trixie got to the top of the pipe again when she heard the voices.

Ten skaters and boarders were watching over by the play pen.

"Aw, man! We forgot Lily!" She slid back down to the bottom and boarded over to the crowd. "'Scuse me, comin' thru. Move it!"

When she got through, her jaw dropped. Lily wasn't in the play pen anymore. She was zooming all over the park like a pro.

"Lily! Get over here, girl!" Lily stopped and slowly skated over to Trixie.

"Is something wrong, Miss Trixie?"

"First off, it's just Trixie, and second, where'd you learn to do that?"

"Didn't you wish that Lily wasn't an embarrassment to you?" Her eyes twinkled like twin candle flames, impishly playing with the melting candle beneath them.

"You did say that, dude." Trixie didn't get a chance to respond.

Jake chose that moment to skateboard up. "Lily. Let's go. I gotta get to G's. We're late as it is."

Lily could sense that something had happened. "Yes, M-uh Jake." She knew now was not the time to push her luck. Master was really down about something.

"Yo, Jake. You wanna talk about it? You seem kind of, like, down'n'stuff man."

"Spudinky's right, Jakey. You just don't seem like yourself anymore. What's going on?" He turned to skateboard away. "You promised you'd tell us." He stopped.

He'd already lied in a way today to one person who was important to him. He didn't want to push his friends away too. He nodded and they began following him.

"I'll explain everything on the way to training."

-:-

Lily had stayed very close and listened carefully to everything Jake had said. He explained everything from when he'd found Lily up to a few minutes ago at the park. Lily's heart went out to her master. He really was dealing with a lot… and she hadn't really helped…

"Master Jake, Lily is sorry for causing you so much trouble."

"Don't worry about it. It's just another drop in the bucket compared to everything else."

"Lily's friend, the Lotus Dragon, says every little drop counts."

"Your friend probably has a very good point, but it's really not one raindrop's fault that the bottom of the bucket gives out."

"Okay, Jakey, I think you need to go home and get some rest, man. You just sounded a lot like your gramps right there. As for tomorrow, we'll figure something out. Don't worry." She patted Jake's shoulder.

"Yah, man. Maybe it'll rain and she'll have to cancel and then she'll have to move because her house got flooded out and there's mold growing on everything and…" Trixie put a hand over his mouth.

"We'll think of something, Jakey."

When Jake was done with training, he snuck Lily back up to his room, where she returned to her Well Wisher form.

"Couldn't you have done that sooner?"

"No. The sun hadn't set yet. Each Well Wisher Wish Drop lasts until sunset." She held up her bag. "If Lily eats one after sunset, it lasts for an entire day."

Jake looked at her. "What are they?"

"They're made from coins people throw into Well Wishers' homes. They sit there for a long time and decay into slimy substance, then Well Wishers go and harvest them. Human's think money is good pay for a wish. You can't buy a wish." She shook her head.

"Then why did the Well Wishers harvest them?"

"The money has the wish inside it still. Even after it turns to sludge. Wishes are dreams people want to be real. They have their own magic. So after they harvest them, they boil it and let it harden again. Eats like a gumdrop, tastes like a penny." She smiled.

"I think you don't have to worry about school lunches being edible, Lily. If you can down old pennies, three day old pudding should be no big deal."

She laughed. He couldn't help but crack a smile. That made her even happier.

'Master's smile is much nicer than sour look he was wearing before.'

-:-

It was late at night, when the door to Jake's closet opened. Lily looked up to see the silhouette of a small girl.

"Little Dragon? What're you doing up so late?"

"I've decided on my wish. When you get ready to grant it, come find me!" With that, she trotted out of the room.

"Okay." Lily was already half asleep again.

-:-

Jake woke up early again. Trixie was right. Something was off with him. Suddenly finishing his dream of being the city hero and rescuing Rose from the clutches of the Hunts-punk and his evil mind control wasn't as tempting as it once was.

'Just another dream crushed by discovery.'

He made sure to leave Lily sleeping before going downstairs. This time, Lily wasn't faking. She slept for two more hours before she realized that Jake had left her.

"AH! Lily IS in trouble, now!" She grabbed the wish drops and got ready to swallow one, then she froze.

"Lily already knows what Master Jake really wants. Lily just doesn't know how to get it for Master." She sat down on his bed, setting the drops beside her.

"Master Jake wants Miss Rose. That's no problem. Miss Rose wants Master Jake. But, hunters always stand in the way." She shivered involuntarily. "Hunters…"

"Hunters want Lily. They go all the way to China to find her. Lily wants Master to be happy. Lily doesn't know what to do!" She plopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

"What's more important? Master Jake's happiness, or Lily's freedom?" She swallowed. "Or Lily's life."

She thought back to last night.

"_Don't worry about it. It's just another drop in the bucket compared to everything else."_

"_Lily's friend, the Lotus Dragon, says every little drop counts."_

"_Your friend probably has a very good point, but it's really not one raindrop's fault that the bottom of the bucket gives out."_

And there was more than that once, she realized, that he'd opened up to her.

"_I think you don't have to worry about school lunches being edible, Lily. If you can down old pennies, three day old pudding should be no big deal."_

Then she remembered the first day she met Jake.

'_What's up wit that? You were all scared around me."_

"_This one is only looking for a way home. No one else is going to look after this one." _

"_Look, I don't know how things worked where you live, but there are two basic rules here. First, don't let people see you. Nobody. Especially hunters. Second, the Am-Drag protects all magical creatures in his territory, yo."_

"_Am-Drag?" _

"_The American Dragon." _

"…_Is that anything like this one's friend, Lotus Dragon?" _

"_Yo, I don't know nothing about this Lotus Dragon, but I guess I could be your friend. But, I think you're going to need a shorter name than 'Well Wisher.' It's just not cool."_

_"You're going to give this unworthy one a name?"_

"_Sure, why not?"_

Lily buried her head under the pillow. "…Master Jake…"

-:-

Rose had spent the night seething. Her cousins had come to spend the next few days and wait for their primary target, the Lotus Dragon to show up. Apparently, they had chased the "appropriate bait" into the area and were now just waiting for the trap to snap.

She loved her two younger cousins as much as any clan member, but no body else had to live with the bossy brats! That was why they were sent to China, she mused. So they'd be out of the way here!

She tried to concentrate on something else. Jake. There that helped her relax. How to convince the American Dragon to show. Even better. She laid back and began calculating the right place and bait to trap the arrogant dragon and still keep Jake at a safe, yet close distance so he could see everything.

She fell into the arms of the sweetest dreams of victory she'd ever known and practically forgot the two brats were right below her, plotting.

Speaking of which…

"But what about the last one? How are we supposed to find it?"

"What does it matter? We have the other three. The dragon will find us."

"But, won't Huntsmaster be angry when he finds out we lost one?"

"You mean, if he finds out."

"I should have never let you go after them. If I don't get to be a real Huntsclan member, I'll never forgive you!"

"Perish the thought."

"Come on, Quick Silver! This isn't funny!"

"Chill, Goldie."

"It's Golden Arrow now, _Sylvia_!"

"Whatever. Look, I read all about the last Lotus Dragon in the archives. Trust me. She'll come strait to us."

"But what if she DOESN'T?"

"Then we get 15,000 wishes instead. Sounds like a win-win to me."

**END CHAPTER 8: BELIEVE ME**

Okay, I think this chapter speaks for itself. Thank you guys for helping me to carry on with all your reviews. We aren't near the end yet, but I don't want to drag this out forever, either. Unless someone wants a sequel. Heheheh.

Come one, come all,

We're havin' a ball,

If you had one too,

Then leave a review!


	9. Boundaries of Good and Evil

Well, it's been a little over twenty four hours, but I hope you'll forgive me. I now have 379 hits on my story! That is a 100 hit increase from yesterday! Amazing! Thank you all so much! To celebrate, this chapter is twice as long as the last one:Unedthusiasic crowd. "Yay.":

**Writingcat730**: You'll see. I'm glad you liked the conversation. This is going in a bit of a different direction than I would've liked… be sure to let me know exactly what you think of this chapter as well!

**HORSELUVER101**: No doubt! I'm hoping to do her character justice when she does. :evil chuckle:

**Fudogg: **Ah… It was more of a pain than fun to write, which is a shame because I was looking forward to this scene but Rose's character came out all wrong, I think. But it is sort of coming together. Not quite how I imagined though… Let me know what you think.

**STORY TIME!**

Trixie and Spud met Jake at the skate park. "Any ideas guys?"

"Not yet, man. I mean, how can you be in two places at once? That, like, would rip the dimensions of time and space, man."

"I'm not givin' up on yah, Jakey. There has to be a way…" She looked at Spud, calculating. "It's too bad Spudinky is too tall to pass as you. We could pull a switcher-oo."

"Well, we're running out of time." He looked at his watch. "It's almost lunch, now."

-:-

Lily had been thinking for a while, when she heard small feet tiptoeing towards Jake's door. She didn't bother hiding.

Haley stuck her head in. "Lily? Can I make my wish now?"

"Sure." Lily was laying on the bed, facing up with her head hanging off.

"Yay!" She ran in and closed the door. "I thought about it all day yesterday, because for a while I wasn't sure. So I came home yesterday and I still hadn't decided, right? Well, when I got home, I decided. I want to know when I'll go full dragon."

"Lily doesn't understand."

"My wish. I want to know when I'll go full dragon!" She jumped up a down a little.

"But, why? Why doesn't little dragon just wish that she could dragon up now?"

"Well, I thought about it, and I'm probably not ready, right? But, if I know when it's going to happen, I have all that time to get ready so I can do all the stuff Jake can! Besides, there's really not anything else I really want. I got a new violin for Christmas and I've been asking for a new ballet tutu for my birthday, so this is the only thing I really want, now."

Lily shrugged her shoulders. "Okay." The teardrop in the center of her forehead glowed a bright purple for a moment before fading out again. "Wish granted."

"…That's it? But… I still don't…"

"It'll come a little later. Wishes aren't granted just as soon as you make them. Little Dragon might not even realize when your wish comes true, but Lily promised, so it will. Soon."

"Oh. Okay!" With that, she bounded out of the room.

"Lily just wishes Master Jake's life was so easy…" She went back into her deep thought trance. "Lily knows what this one should do, but doing it will be very difficult… Lily wishes her friends from back home were here. Well Wisher brothers and sister would help Lily." She sighed and let her head hang back.

-:-

Rose was coming down from her room with a pen and a sheet of paper. It looked like a list to the two girls sitting at a table in the underground base beneath her home.

"Hey, Thorn! What's happening?" The girl that had said this wore a gray version of Rose's Huntsgirl uniform, but had removed her head piece, letting her platinum hair flow free past her shoulders. It was now lying on the table next to what appeared to be a map of New York with Huntsbases marked in blue and noted hiding places for magical creatures marked in red.

"Not much. I'm going out later and I'm just making sure everything's ready." She didn't look the girl in the eye. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the total truth either.

"What are you doing, Thorn?" This came from the second person at the table. Her helmet was still on, but Rose could see the two copper colored braids sticking out the back. Her honey gold eyes were soft and friendly. It was difficult to believe that she wore the mark of a hunter.

"Just some stuff. Is Huntsmaster out of his meeting yet?"

"No. He's training the newbie's today. We've got five recruits." The girl with platinum hair glared with her silvery violet eyes. She snorted with disgust at the thought.

"That's… more than usual." Her partner fiddled with her hands for a moment after she said it, knowing this was a tender subject with the other.

"But it's not nearly enough! Before the bigbreak-up, we would've had at least 30!"

"Sylvia, you spend too much time in the archives. That was more than 400 years ago!"

Rose continued watching this with mild interest. She remembered that several of the Huntsclan members had split the clan in two. She didn't know the details, though. She did know that that was why there weren't many of them around anymore.

"Well, while you two discuss that problem, I'm going to get my dragon's head." She walked towards a door at the far end of the room that would lead her up to the apartment building that was the cover-up for their main base.

"Sch. Listen to her. 'I'm going to get MY dragon's head!' What a bimbo. Any real hunter wouldn't have to chase after them so recklessly. They can make the dragon come to them."

"But, we had to chase the lotus dragon all the way here…"

"SHUT UP!" She slammed her fist on the table. Suddenly, her wristwatch went off.

"Warning. Dragon located in sector 15 B 2. It is moving south at 50 mph, moving in a sweeping formation."

"That's where the Wishers are hidden." The girl with honey eyes stood and reached for a weapon in the corner. It was crossbow like in shape but it had a strange green gem like piece where the arrow was supposed to be loaded. "I'm glad we put the sensors out there. She's showing up in the middle of the afternoon!"

"See, I told you she'd come." The platinum haired girl slipped her helmet on and quickly did up her braid before tying the end close to her head where the other had started making a loop.

"Let's do this."

-:-

Downtown, Fu and Lao-Shi were watching the city from the roof. Jake had finished his training earlier and had been strangely quiet the entire time.

"I'll bet you a year's worth of biscuits that he's doing something he's gonna regret."

"Since I do not make bets I know I will lose, I do not intend to bet on that."

"So, are we just gonna let him go through with this?"

"…There is a more pressing matter at hand…" Grandpa's gaze became hard as he stared towards another end of town.

Fu followed his gaze. "Well, I'll be… Is that what I think it is?"

Lao nodded. "A dragoness, looking for her charges." It was a mere speck in the skyline, but they knew what it was without question. If you spend so much time around mythical creatures, to begin to automatically be able to sense when one is near.

That's the sense the dragoness was counting on.

-:-

She was a light blue dragon with a white belly and a lotus symbol on her forehead between to interesting hair like fronds that where tied back with two bead like ornaments. She had a long slender body with long sinewy wings and a spear-like head on the end of her tail. Her midnight eyes were scanning the area below frantically. She knew they were there, but she couldn't tell where or how to get to them. And, for some reason, there were only three…

Rage boiled up inside her as she realized she'd set off a sensor. She veered up and continued climbing. She'd have to hide until nightfall… she was no match for more than a few hunters at a time… but where was the fourth? They wouldn't have killed it already…

She flew back to the outskirts of the city. When she reached the old abandoned flat that she'd been staying in, she de-transformed back into her old self. She looked out into the city for a little while before turning back to her sparse living quarters.

What would she do if she lost one? She was the only one who could take care of them and she'd failed. She was the only one who knew how to renew the wish count so the last four Well Wishers did not die. She had to rescue them, somehow.

She sighed. Two hundred years ago, this would not have even been a problem. But as the world advanced it's technology, so had the hunters. But she hadn't changed. Not at all.

She looked down at her hands. Not a wrinkle. They were still plump like peaches too. The same hands she'd been looking down at for more than 400 years…

-:-

Lao had begun tailing the dragoness and had finally reached the dilapidated area that she'd disappeared into.

He noticed a flash of blue disappear into darkness and dove down, hiding outside the window the girl had just disappeared into.

He heard a small sigh and a muffled sound like cloth rustling. He peaked in. She'd gone into another room, separated by this one with only a cloth drape. He thought for a minute before he began flying back to where he'd left Fu. If he wasn't mistaken, that dragon was only a young girl… but that dragon had been much too… big to be so young…

-:-

Jake looked down at his watched. 6:35. Not even half an hour until his imminent doom. Even if he didn't die from Huntsgirl's attacks, he would surely die when she looked up with betrayal in her eyes.

He hadn't been home much that day. He wondered what Lily was up to. He wasn't about to go and find out.

'The last thing I need is for her to show up and Huntsgirl get her too."

Jake walked into the park. There was nothing else for him to do. He had to show up, and he had to stop whatever Rose planned to do to get his attention. Trixie and Spud had tried, but they really couldn't think of a good way to make it seem like Jake was in two places at once without causing more trouble than before.

'I'm just going to have to face the music.' he decided tiredly. 'I just hope she doesn't hate me for hiding it…'

-:-

Lily looked at the clock. The sun was going down right now. There was only a few minutes left and it would be gone.

She looked at the wish drop in her hand. This was it. The odds of her surviving what she was about to do was slim and none. She wasn't a fighter and she'd never been trained. She'd watched Lotus dragon train herself though. She could make herself seem like a dragon…

She hovered out the window when the clock reached 6:45. The sun hadn't set all the way yet, but she could use this time to get to the park where Jake was supposed to meet Rose.

Little did she know, she wasn't the only party crasher on the way to the park.

-:-

"What are we doing here again, Goldie? We should be looking for that darn dragon. I can't believe she just ran away this afternoon before we could even get there!" She huffed again as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I just wanna see what Rose is up to. Besides, if she does kill the dragon tonight, I wanna say I was there. She is Huntsmaster's favorite you know. It's likely that when he retires she'll be the new Huntsmistress."

"Heh. That little halfie? That's sad. I mean, I know the clan's in dire times, but…"

"Shh! There she is!"

-:-

Rose walked through the park scanning for Jake frantically. The sun had almost set and it was five minutes till seven. She reached the snow cone vendor before she realized that he was sitting on a bench across from it.

She waved enthusiastically. "Jake! I'm so glad you made it!"

"I promised, right?" he tried to smile but it didn't come out right.

"Well, I promised to make this an amazing night! And I think it's time I kept my promise. Come on. I want to take you somewhere."

-:-

Lily watched from a treetop as her master followed the girl. She clenched her fist around a wish drop and glared at the sunset. "Hurry up! Master Jake needs Lily!"

She began hovering from treetop to treetop as they left the area.

Soon they were near a building with a tilt to it. Rose motioned for Jake to hide in some bushes and to be quiet. She hit a button on her belt and her outfit shimmered like a mirage before vanishing into her uniform.

She pulled out a capsule and through it into a busted out window. Jake heard a loud pop before the room beyond the window filled with a green gas. He heard a few cries for help before he realized what she'd captured.

'A goblin… but what was she going to do with it?' She pulled her mask on and walked into the smoke filled room. By now the cries were silent.

When she came out, she was dragging a teenage goblin by the back of his shirt. She laid him on the grass before looking up at Jake. She winked before looking up for something.

Jake followed her gaze. There was a crane to the left of a building where someone planned to tear it down. He felt himself freeze up inside.

She was going to hang that poor goblin from that crane just to make him scream. Goblin's hated heights. That was how she intended to lure him out.

She walked over to him. "Come here. This is a goblin. Don't worry. He's harmless now that I've knocked him out."

'Yeah, but what about you?' Jake wondered. He looked down at the sleeping face of the young goblin. He looked to be older than he was, but goblins didn't age the same way as people. He wondered if Rose knew that. "What are you going to do with him?"

"What does it matter? He's an evil creature." She said it as if she were announcing there would be rain the next day. It was just another fact of life. "But I plan to lure an even bigger creature here. Do you want to see a dragon, Jake?"

Jake didn't bother answering. She thought it was from shock. He just didn't really see the point.

"Rose, don't do this." He cautioned. "There's something I gotta tell you."

She stopped. "What is it? You believe me now, right? I'm just trying to make the city safer, Jake."

"It's not that, Rose. You brought me here to see a dragon, but there won't be one. Not like you think, because, Rose… I…"

Suddenly, a red blur shot out of the dark and grabbed the goblin from his place on the ground.

"Jake! Hide!" She pushed him back. He complied, only because he was shocked. The dragon that looked just like him dropped the goblin on the roof.

"I was wondering when you'd arrive, American Dragon!"

The dragon perched on the edge of the building but didn't say anything. Jake's heart sunk to his feet as he realized why.

It was right there in it's eyes.

It's jade green eyes. It winked at him.

Jake had to force himself not to faint right then. Why couldn't she just do as he told her!

He looked at Rose. She seemed confused. He understood why. Usually he did more talking than she did. But, if that was Lily, like he thought, she didn't dare speak for fear of giving away that she was a decoy.

Further back in the shadows, a pair of silvery violet eyes glinted dangerously. "Goldie? Do you see what I see?"

Goldie studied the dragon for a moment. "Something's off here… it's not holding itself like a trained dragon should… We've seen enough dragon battlers to know. This one isn't a trained one. Sylvia, this can't be the one she's supposed to slay. It's not even a worthy opponent."

"Which means… it's probably not a dragon at all," Sylvia hissed darkly.

-:-

On the outskirts of town, a young girl shot up out of her makeshift bed. She'd felt something. It was very familiar.

She changed into a dragon to be able to distinguish it better. Her violet eyes widened in shock. "The fourth!"

-:-

Meanwhile, Lao-shi was looking for his grandson and dragon pupil. It didn't take long to find the red dragon sitting atop a building in the low rent district, but something was off.

Jake looked up and saw his dragon master heading towards the building. He didn't notice the girls running out of the bushes with what looked like the Huntsclan version of a bazooka. They aimed at the red dragon on the roof.

Rose turned around and began screaming.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET OUT OF HERE! THAT'S MY DRAGON!"

Sylvia sneered at her. "Jeez. You really are a bimbo. Look up there. Don't you notice anything different about that dragon?" Goldie continued to hold the dragon in sights.

Rose studied it for a moment, insult aside. There was something different. This dragon's eyes and manner where off, somehow.

Lily got ready to take off, seeing as Master Jake was no longer in danger.

Then she heard another voice.

"Little one! Don't be afraid! You're guardian is with you!"

"LOTUS DRAGON!" Lily froze and looked up. Sure enough, a few yards away, was the sky blue dragon that was quickly headed in the direction of the old building.

Goldie saw the second dragon and her finger slipped on the trigger. A net, guided by three glowing green homing beacons, began sailing through the air. With a snap and a crack, Lily was caught and knocked backwards onto the roof.

Jake was panicked. He couldn't dragon up here! There were three Huntsgirls right in front of him! But that net… Lily why don't you ever listen?

Lao-Shi dived down at the two Huntsgirls that had shot the net. Sylvia cart wheeled right and Goldie slid left.

Lao pointed himself upwards again to keep from going into the trees. He dived down at the blonde. He didn't plan to hurt the girls yet. He needed to give the blue dragon time to get whoever that dragon in the net was out. All these two had to do was use the green gem on the weapon they were holding to teleport the net, and whoever was inside it, to there base.

Rose looked up as a very large sky blue dragon landed on top of the roof. She looked at Jake to make sure he was okay before dashing into the building and up the stairs. She'd heard the red dragon scream out Lotus dragon. It didn't sound anything like her arch-nemesis. It sounded like a girl.

She didn't know what was going on up there, but she was determined to find out.

-;-

"Well Wisher, are you alright?" Lotus dragon was pulling the ropes, trying to rip through.

"Lily is fine! Master Jake is looking after Lily!" You'd never know she was caught in a hunter's net from the sheer joy in her voice. "Where are Lily's brothers and sister?'

"Later. Let's get you out of here, first." She continued struggling with the ropes, trying to make a hole big enough to let the now dragon sized Well Wisher out. "I won't loose you, too!"

Rose reached the roof just in time to hear this last part. "You're about to loose everything, dragon. Drop that net."

Lotus Dragon only glared at her before continuing with her work. "I don't know what you think you've captured, but it's not a dragon."

Rose had had it. Why was everyone ignoring her today? She ran at the blue dragon and jumped into the air before she began a barrage of kicks toward it's abdomen.

"I'll be the judge of that." the blue dragon landed on it's side, out of breath for a moment. It stared sadly at the red dragon through a painful haze. She needed a moment to get back in it… and maybe she could catch this girl off guard.

Rose walked over to what she had thought was the American Dragon. "Who are you?" Lily covered her head with her claws as best she could and only trembled. "Answer me!"

"Please! Leave this one alone!"

"You're not a dragon, are you?" Rose said, coldly examining the poor beast. "But you aren't human either." She stood very close to the dragon's nose. "What are you?"

Lotus dragon began to see a way out of this. She looked at Lily and began humming quietly. Lily could hear it. She began to hum in a pitch that human ears could not hear.

Rose felt at peace, for some reason. She didn't know why. Her mind was becoming foggy. It was like she was in a dream. She shook her head. It didn't help much. The blue dragon was getting up, but Rose was feeling too sluggish for some reason to care.

Lotus Dragon pulled the net off of Lily and wrapped it around Rose. Her eyes were half lidded in her foggy state.

Lily finally stopped and Rose looked around becoming more and more aware by the second. She realized that the Lotus Dragon had not dropped her off the building, but had tied her wrists and feet and set her over to the side.

"What're you doing? This isn't how it's supposed to go!" She glared at the blue dragon.

"Things have been the same way between hunters and dragons for more than 400 years, this is true. But I do not care which breed you are. You are alive, are you not? And I… have seen too much of your kind to be an ordinary dragon." She turned to the red one. "Little one, what've you been up to? Why do you look like that?"

"I'm trying to help Master! He was in trouble, so I came her to watch out for him!"

The Lotus Dragon put her hand on the other dragon's forehead and whispered something Rose couldn't understand. The red dragon began glowing and slowly turning smaller.

When the light was gone, Rose stared in disbelief. The thing now staring at her with jade eyes was less than 4 feet tall! "What kind of joke is this!"

"Lily is sorry, Miss Rose, but Lily cannot let you hurt Master." Lily hovered over and patted the restrained Huntsgirl on the head. "Miss Rose will thank me later." Rose's eyes bulged.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?" she demanded.

Lily smiled. "Don't worry. Lily won't tell anyone."

The blue dragon turned and stared at Rose. "She won't. And if I was going to harm you, I already would have. When you go back, tell your master to stop hunting me already and to stop sending others to get me. I'm tired of his games and he knows as well as I do that he can't kill me." Rose's heart cringed at the last part. She hadn't said it with arrogance, but more like with despair. Like a warrior in an eternal battle that they couldn't possibly win.

With that, they took off, the little creature riding the dragon's back.

Rose suddenly felt sick. She couldn't deny it, now. Her heart had just gone out to a dragon.

The next thing that entered her mind was Jake. Was he okay? Where was he now?

Suddenly, she heard a shot and a loud groan of pain. She heard a thud before her cousins' voices.

"WE GOT HER! HAHA! WE GOT THE LOTUS DRAGON!"

She began to panic. That creature had spared her life, just to be killed. Then she was disgusted with herself. What had come over her? It was a dragon for hunt's sake! Jake appeared in the doorway and rushed over to her.

"Rose! Are you alright?" She sighed.

"I'm fine. But… I think something's wrong with me… never mind. Let's go."

They ran down the stairs to see Goldie and Sylvia standing over the wounded blue dragon.

Jake instantly hated himself. He had signaled to Lao-Shi too soon to head back and that everything was alright.

Goldie and Sylvia smiled at Rose before disappearing in a puff of green smoke.

Jake swallowed hard. "Rose… what're they going to do to her?" He knew the answer, but he wasn't supposed to, he realized.

"They-They're going to kill her. Tomorrow at sunrise. That's the way. When the sunrises, they do the ceremonial… decapitation of a dragon." Why did the thought of them beheading that dragon turn her stomach now? Why, when for the last 3 years of her life she'd been taught that it was the right thing to do? Was it that little creature's bravery, when it stood up to her even though it wasn't really a dragon? Or the fact that the Lotus Dragon had spared her life?

Rose suddenly felt the world drop out from under her. Dragon's didn't have souls. Huntsmaster had taught her that. But, then, how did they do these things that she'd just witnessed?

Jake held her up. "Rose, are you gonna be alright?"

She shook her head. "I don't know, Jake. I just don't know." He looked around. Where was Lily? Then it hit him. They got Lily when they captured that dragon! He looked down. Rose looked like she was about to pass out.

He lifted her arm around his shoulders. "I'll walk you home." 'At least I have until dawn to find them…'

Rose didn't answer. Her mind was lost for the moment.

'If everything I've been taught is a lie, then what can I depend on now?'

**END CHAPTER 9: BOUNDARIES OF RIGHT AND WRONG**

For those of you who didn't realize, this story has gone from one page a chapter (chapter 1) to eleven pages a chapter, like you just read. It took me almost seven hours to figure this scene out and I'm still sure some people are going to be lost. Let me know if you are lost and let me know where.

And to the 20 some odd people who are reading and not reviewing, please just review the numbers 555 if you are really liking this. It would help to keep my moral up. This chapter was difficult because I hate doing fight scenes, but it was inevitable so I just hurried up and got it out of the way. Blech.

It's long overdue,

But it's you who should choose,

Tell me how I do,

Please leave some reviews.


	10. Dragon Dungeon

It's been a while, but I had a tough time deciding where to end this chapter. It's kind of a key chapter in which we see Rose/Thorn battling herself a lot. I hope you enjoy it as much as I am.

**_I'VE GOT 569 HITS! YAY! WOW! MORE THAN 30 PEOPLE ARE TOO LAZY TO REVIEW!_ (; P)**

**Writingcat730**: I'm sorry I didn't update as soon as usual, but this chapter is crucial and I couldn't botch it up the way I did the last one! Thank you for ALL your support. You are awesome. I like your stories as well. Thank you again. You'll never really understand how much my reader's support means to me.

**HORSELUVER101**: I'm trying to convince the 30 some odd people who are keeping up with my story to review because I have an average of 2 reviews per chapter and more than 500 hits. It's a little frustrating, you know? But thank you very much for all your support and I hope it wasn't TOO confusing.

**Fudogg: **Well, I'll be honest. The seven hours I worked, I had about four different ways that Rose got out of the ropes. In the end, I'd opted for the "Jake cut the ropes with a knife Rose told him was in her shoe," because it was the most believable, but apparently, I'd erased it while editing something else. I'm sorry. I knew I forgot something. Very keen eyes you've got there.

**STORY TIME!**

The dragon opened her eyes. She first realized she was shackled. There was a strange green energy running is a 3 or 4 inch cord from one ankle to the other. Then she noticed she was no longer in dragon form. It took a minute to sink in. She couldn't see her hands. They were chained in a similar fashion behind her.

She managed to stand leaning against the wall and tried to look around through the gloom. She began trying to shuffle forward before as bright beam of light shown down on her.

"Don't move." She tensed at the voice. She knew it.

"Dragon of the Lotus line," the male let out an evil chuckle, "Welcome to my… humble abode."

She sighed wearily. "How many times are you and your line going to come after me before you realize that it won't do you any good?"

"I've got you. Tomorrow you will die by the hand of one of my Huntsgirls."

"How many times have your kind tried to burn, drown, decapitate and just kill me? Even your poison didn't work, Hunter." This was said with an exhausted tone.

"It's HuntsMASTER, now, dragon." He took a step into the light so she could see him. "We'll see if tomorrow you can remove the head of a Lotus Dragon with a ceremonial sword."

She only shook her head. "And when you can't? How long will you keep me here?"

He chuckled again and put a hand beneath her chin. "Well, let me put it this way. Tomorrow, either a dragon will die…" he snapped his fingers and a light turned on across the room, illuminating a mesh wire cage with Lily and three others in it, "Or a dragon will loose her purpose."

A tear slid down the girl's face. "Please, Huntsmaster, spare them. They are innocent in this. I am the dragon here. They are no sport for you."

"Then your solution is simple. Die tomorrow, or they will." With that, he was gone. The girl stood there for a moment before collapsing, allowing a few stray tears to wash down her dirty face.

"I'm so sorry, my friends. There's… nothing I can do." She glanced over at the four sleeping forms. "Your guardian was not fit…" She curled up and waited for sunrise, listening to the even breathing of her charges.

-:-

Rose was now at the door of the apartment building. She looked back at Jake with pleading in her eyes. "Jake… I know this seems sort of weird, but… you do believe me now, right?"

Jake looked at her through clear eyes. "Rose, I always believed you. Look, before that dragon showed up, there was something I was trying to tell you. Rose, you aren't the only one with a secret. I'm…"

She held up her hand. "Did you hear something?" Jake sighed exasperatedly. "Seriously, it sounded like crying."

"Rose, I'm trying to tell you… wait a minute…Crying?"

"Um… never mind. I think I know what it is. See you tomorrow Jake? Okay. Later!" With that, she was in the building and the door slammed shut. Jake scratched his head.

"Oookay." He walked away from the front of her building and stopped. He still hadn't heard anything… but maybe… "Dragon ear."

With his one red, pointed ear, he listened carefully. There it was. Something was trying to muffle its own tears. He went around to the side of the building it came from and bent down. Whatever it was, it was down underground. He returned his ear back to normal.

"Could it really be that easy? Could this place really be the Hunts-punk's headquarters?" He realized he didn't really have time to worry about that. But he would need some help. He turned in the direction of Lao-Shi's shop. 'Maybe G knows something about this dragon.'

-:-

Rose ran straight to the main room in the Headquarters, where she'd previously met with her two cousins. They were there yet again.

"Ah! The lady of the hour!" Sylvia held up a goblet of a red substance up as in a toast. "We couldn't have done it without you, Thorn!"

She only nodded. "Where is it?"

"Down in the dragon dungeon, of course." Goldie took a bite out of a chicken leg. Rose noticed a Kernal Fried Chicken bucket near her. "It was a big one, but after we injected her with the tranquilizer, she instantly reverted to her humanoid form. She's a lot easier to tie up that way."

"Heh heh! I can hardly wait until tomorrow! Then my first Hunter's Quest will be completed!"

"Well, mine basically is already done. The Well Wishers are captured in a faerie proofed cage, so they won't be getting out anytime tonight. All I've got to do is present them to the Huntsmaster during the ceremony." Goldie took another bite. "You want some, Rose?" She slid the bucket of chicken legs closer.

Sylvia motioned to a chair. "Take a seat, Thorn. I've got plenty of Pomegranate Punch too. Let's celebrate! Our right of passage is coming along swimmingly!"

Rose looked down at the seat. "That's alright. I'm kind of tired. See you guys at sunrise."

"Alright. We'll have a real party tomorrow night then!" Sylvia downed the juice in her goblet then refilled it from a bottle nearby. "Then you'll be in the company of true Huntresses!"

"Goodnight, Rose!"

"Goodnight." Rose went down the hallway towards the apartment then doubled back. She couldn't leave it like this. She had to know. Why had that dragon spared her life? Why had she just left her on the roof? And how did that little creature know her name?

She opened a door that was partially hidden by a tapestry that showed a dragon slaying by her ancestors

She walked down a flight of stairs before she reached another hall. This one only had a few doors in it. The one to her right had a light on and there was a sobbing sound coming from inside. She lifted herself up to see.

'There she is.'

Rose gently turned the knob. 'Locked. Darn it!' She turned to the wall where they kept the keys when there was no one on guard duty (Let's face it, with as few hunters as there are, sometimes you just can't spare one). There were three rings of keys. One ring for each prison corridor. Some of them looked very old, like the locks wouldn't need keys anyway because you could just break the rusted things open. She grabbed the first ring and brought it over to the door and began trying keys.

-:-

Lily woke up and began looking around. This didn't look like Master Jake's closet. It was too un-cluttered. And dusty.

She looked out to see her friend.

"Lian! Lily has been worried!" She came close to the wall of the cage and stuck her hands on it before pulling them back with a yelp. "Ouch!" She looked down to see burn marks in the shape of the mesh of the cage.

"Don't struggle, little one." Lian looked up from where she was sitting. "You can't get out of that cage. It's faery proofed. You'll only hurt yourself."

"Lily doesn't understand. Why are Lily's brothers and sister here?"

"They were captured in the raid at the Lotus Shrine. I don't know how you escaped, but the copper haired huntress herded you to this city when you did. How did you get your name, Lily?"

Lily sat down by the cage wall and began telling her story. When she was done, Lian looked thoughtful.

"So, the other dragons know I exist now. Maybe all hope is not lost." Then she heard someone enter the hallway outside her door.

Lily began sobbing. 'Please! Hurry, Master Jake! Hurry!'

-:-

Lao Shi looked down at his dragon pupil who was still out of breath from his very fast flight almost all the way across town. This news alarmed him. The Lotus dragon was captured, as well as the Well Wisher.

He waited for his grandson to take a breath before asking his next question.

"How did this happen?"

"Everyone… was… leaving. Rose… was tied up… when the dragon took off, the other two shot her with something. She hit the ground and they teleported her to their base."

"Then we must find them. Quickly."

"I think I know where we should start."

-:-

Rose opened the door slowly. She'd expected the girl to be chained to the floor or the wall. Apparently, Huntsmaster thought neither was necessary for this dragon. She walked forward and shut the door behind her.

The dragon girl looked up at her. "What is it now?" she asked quietly.

"I've got some questions for you." Rose intended it to sound like an interrogation, but it sounded more like a plea.

"Alright. What do you wish to know, young hunter?" Rose looked taken aback. No threats? No refusals? This dragon was full of surprises.

"First off, why didn't you kill me? That's the way things are, isn't it? We slay you, or you slay us. It's what you're here for, right?"

"No. I'm here only to protect them." She motioned toward the cage. "That's the only reason I'm still alive as it is. It's my sworn duty as the Lotus Dragon. As for the way things have been; it wasn't always this way. There was once a time when there was no aggression between hunters and dragons, except for those of us that overtook our boundaries, on both sides."

"Overtook your boundaries?"

"Like in medieval times. When dragons would take over kingdoms for revenge on the destruction of magical creature's homes or when hunters killed dragons so they wouldn't be bored. There are bad dragons and good dragons the same as with hunters."

"All hunters are the same. We stand with honor to destroy your kind. You should be grateful you are not already dead."

"Hunters are not all the same. That is like saying all dragons are the same. You have already illustrated that they are not, with my case. As for your case, you are not the same as the others. I can sense that you are not blooded from just this one clan." She turned toward the wall. "As for being grateful, I have many times wished I were dead. I would be grateful for this burden to be gone."

"What are you babbling about?"

"Surely you have heard of the great split in the Huntsclan?"

"That was a long time ago."

"But I remember it like it was yesterday." Rose's eyes nearly popped out of her sockets.

"Just how old are you?"

"What year is it?"

"2005"

"Almost 500. I've lost exact count, but I know my coming of age birthday was in the early 1600's, so I'm not far off."

"But… that's not possible… You were around when there were thousands of hunters looking for you! Surely you'd have been killed by now!"

"I've been drowned, burned, poisoned and the list goes on, yes. But I am the last Lotus Dragon. So it is my destiny to protect my charges until there are no more charges to protect."

Rose's mouth hung open. "B-but… How!"

"That is a very long story."

"Well, it doesn't look like you'll be going anywhere anytime soon." Rose gestured to the shackles on the girl's ankles. "And I've got time to spare."

"True. Alright. It's all started at my coming of age birthday. We were a peaceful clan of dragons, the Line of Lotus. Like all dragon lines, when the girl became of age, she was put in charge of a specific colony of creatures, unlike the boys who were put in charge of the family territory. It promised that each creature would be far more secure than if there was only one dragon looking after several hundred creatures.

At the time, I was young and easily influenced. That's when I met a hunter for the first time. He had come from Europe. His first intent was to slay me, so he had followed me one day after patrolling the Well Wishers. He realized, I suppose, that it would be far easier to capture me in my human form than to drag a huge dragon all the way back to Europe. But, after I'd changed back into my human form, he couldn't do it. He looked at me in my human form and saw a beautiful young girl, not a hideous beast. But he still had to take a dragon back to Europe.

He spent many months in China, both privately meeting with me as a friend and thinking on his dilemma. He decided then, to write his family with a proposition. In the letter, he suggested that instead of slaying a dragon, they purpose a new tradition for the clan. They would not wipe out the dragons, but tame their bloodline with marriage to hunters, both making the hunters that much stronger and the dragons that much less of a threat."

"That's disgusting!" Rose couldn't help but interrupt. Lian just smiled.

"He was afraid I would marry another dragon more than he wanted to marry me himself, and therefore prove that I was in fact more dragon than his ideal image of just a pretty young girl. But I agreed. I was very young, as I said, and easily influenced by sweet words. Back then it was difficult to get messages from one place to another in a timely manner, especially across continents. There was no telling if there was a war braking out along the way or what have you. So, when he got a letter from his clan leader, he immediately assumed everything was as he said, temporarily fine. This would be an experiment.

When he went to my parents for permission, he left out the fact that he was a hunter, but emphasized that his family was very well off. My parents, obviously wanting the very best for their daughter, agreed, under the condition that after we were married in Europe with his family, we would return so that I could re-assume my duties at the shrine."

"Shrine? That Lotus Shrine? Wasn't it just a den for evil creatures?"

Lian motioned to the cage with her head. "Do they look like evil creatures to you?" Rose was silent. What was she going to say? Big, bad wolves come in small, innocent looking yet brave packages?

"But back to what I was saying. We made the journey to his home country. A little island you know as Britain. Our arrival was pandemonium. We were not aware that the clan had divided after the leader's decision. Half of the clan had been all for the experiment, the other half however… they assassinated the leader and called that a leader be elected from another bloodline. They also insisted that I be put to death the instant I was off of the boat from China, as well as my future husband for treason on the clan. The half that was in favor to what we were doing tried their very best to warn and protect us, but my fiancé fell in the battle. The ship was turned around and I was escorted back to China. When we got there, my family, my home and the shrine were all gone. What was left was a note from the new Huntsclan. The essence of it was, 'All dragons are hereby criminals to all countries, so decrees the Huntsmaster of the Huntsclan.'"

"…so what happened to the others? The hunters, I mean." Rose curled up, listening carefully to this side of the story. This wasn't what was described in the archives. It was similar, but very different. But, Rose reasoned, the Archives were probably not translated by someone who had been there.

"They became sort of like modern day conservationists. They continued with their experiments of both protecting people from magical creatures and taming dragon lines. They are a bit more underground than your kind, but I do still see them time and again." She looked Rose over. "You look a lot like some of them in the line I was almost married into. Creepily so, in fact. You look almost just like Robert's sister."

"Robert Tyson Hunter. The traitor." Rose looked down. "I don't know if I'm from that line or not. My mom and dad died in a car accident when I was really little. My uncle, the Huntsmaster raised me after that."

"Mmm. Wouldn't it be in a record of some kind in your archives?"

"I suppose… I don't spend much time in there. It's not necessary to… become a full fledged hunter."

"To slay a dragon." Rose flinched.

"Yes." She cleared her throat. "But… how are you so long lived, then?"

Lian smiled bitterly. "The last of the Well Wishers survived the attack, but only long enough to leave four eggs behind. She made me swear on my life to always protect the four creatures in those eggs. I swore. She used her wish granting power to bind me to that promise, and here I am, unscathed by 500 years of advancement and change."

"You've got quite a life's story." Rose shifted uncomfortably, still unable to shake the shameful feeling that she was conversing civilly, if not kindly, with a dragon.

"Yes. It is quite a story. I bet yours is just as interesting, though. The niece of a Huntsmaster, right?"

"It's not glamorous, if that's what you mean, but it does have it's moments. The best part is when he praises me in front of influential hunters. It makes me feel really big inside, you know? To think he thinks so much of me."

"That's how it is with all young ones. The good part is always the part that tastes sweetest."

"Yes. Well, I have to go. I'll… see you later…"

"I am not going anywhere. Feel free to drop by anytime before sunup."

Rose turned to leave when a small voice called out to her.

"Miss Rose! Wait! Please, Miss Rose?" She turned toward the cage. One of the creatures was staring at her while the others cowered in a corner.

"How do you know my name?"

"Lily will tell Miss Rose, if Miss Rose does something for Lily." The determination in the green eyes of this creature held Rose captivated for a moment.

"What do you want?"

"Let Miss Lian and this one's brothers and sister go! Then Lily will tell you everything!"

Rose stared at her for a moment. "I can't do that. I can't interfere with another hunter's coming of age ceremony."

"Miss Rose! Please! Miss Rose, you would want the same if the American Dragon caught your family. Miss Rose… Lily doesn't care what happens to this one. This one has had a Master that has been very kind to Lily. But… the others don't know anything like that. Lily might be the youngest, but Lily is the strongest. Let the others go, Miss Rose?"

"I can't." Rose turned away.

"Miss Rose! What if it got Miss Rose her American Dragon? If this one could give Miss Rose her dragon, would she let the others go?" Rose stared at the little creature suspiciously.

"How?"

"If Miss Rose lets the others go, I'll show you!" Lily pulled out a handful of wish drops.

"…I'll think about it. Give me a little while." Rose opened the door and left before anything else could be said. Her heart couldn't take anymore. This was just too much to load on her shoulders. She put the keys back and walked upstairs. As she opened the door to the corridor, she heard a small voice.

"…Please hurry, Miss Rose?"

**END CHAPTER 10: DRAGON DUNGEON**

Yes, I realize this isn't as long as my last one, but I didn't want to stuff too much in here, since there's already a lot going on in this chapter.

Thank you again, my avid readers who are lazy and don't review. I love you anyway. I love you because you've made the hits for this story surpass any three of my other stories combined. So I love you and forgive you. Nyah nah. LOL

As all of the problems

Draw to a close

Will there be any reviews?

Only the readers know.

(P.S. If there aren't many more reviews, I can't do a sequel when this one's over!)


	11. The Red Bloodline

Jake circled the building again before resting near his grandfather. There were no tracking beacons in this area, surprisingly. 'Probably don't expect a dragon to try to get in…'

"There's no way we can just walk in there and I don't see any alternate entrances…"

"We will have to wait."

"For what? A miracle?"

"Do not doubt your dragon master. I sense that something is happening." He watched as a window in the apartment turned on.

Jake crossed his arms impatiently. 'It'd better be a miracle… it's Lily's only hope…'

-:-

Rose was trying to get ready for bed. Actually, she was in bed, she just couldn't get to sleep. Some things the dragon had said had hit some sort of nerve in her system and she wasn't sure she liked it.

"Okay, so what if I could be related to a Traitor. Huntsmaster doesn't seem to care. He took me in when my parents died. I bet if I went and looked in the records, Huntsmaster is the first one who wanted to continue my training."

A little voice inside her began rebuking her. "_If he did, why? When has the Huntsmaster, or anyone in the Huntsclan, done something charitable without a purpose? Think like the hunter you are, girl!"_

"Huntsmaster chose me! I didn't ask to be a hunter! He could have let me go to foster parents or an orphanage and never know about my true lineage!"

"_Then again, he might be hiding your true lineage for purposes of his own." _

"Why would he do that?"

"_Why don't you check the archives? There's still time."_

"To what? To release the dragon! What do you think I am, crazy?"

"_No one else would know that better than you."_

"Pht! Why would I even want to look in the Archives? There's nothing there that I need to know. Tomorrow, I just won't go to the ceremony. That way I won't have to worry about betraying my clan out of stupidity."

"_And you definitely wouldn't do it if it were what your parents would have done. These are rough times for the clan, Rose. Do you really think it's below the Huntsmaster to kill would be traitors in order to continue the hunter line?"_

"… No. In fact, I know it's not. But…"

"_So why are you still here?"_

"Waiting for you to shut up…" She flung back the blankets on her bed and grabbed her Huntsgirl uniform. "Fine. If I have to do this, then I might as well do it now so I can get some sleep."

She dashed downstairs to the library. She didn't bother sneaking. If there was anyone on guard duty, they'd only become suspicious if she was sneaking. 'I've got nothing to hide. If someone asks, I'm just going to say that I want to look up something in the Archives. No big deal.'

She kept reassuring herself the whole way, partially hoping someone would stop her and tell her to go back to bed. The other part was screaming that she was too slow and needed to see the archives now.

As she skidded to a halt in front of what looked like a computer terminal, she sat down and typed in her personal password to get into the archives. They were backed up in writing, but it would be quicker to just pull up the files on the computer.

She first started looking for her genealogy. What was the point of being suspicious if she wasn't even blood relative to a traitor. She found herself, her parents… her grandparents… she followed it up and up through the lines until she came to a part of the files that were typed in a red font. She began reading the names off carefully. Right above her far back great grandfather's name was the name Violet Ruthanne Hunter. Next to her name was an empty spot where the name of Rose's great uncle should have been. It had been removed. The Huntsmaster had disowned him from the clan, thereby erasing him from the records. He was a Traitor.

"Oh my god…" She began telling herself that it didn't matter. That was generations ago. "What's with all these names in red?" She began scrolling back down.

She came back to her parents' names. "Why are they marked in red, too?" She clicked her mother's name. It told about her life as a huntress and how she'd married her father, but it didn't say how she'd become a full fledged member of the clan. Her father's was just as vague, if not more so. When she scrolled down the their Eulogy inserts, she couldn't find anything about the way they died. There was nothing about a car crash. Nothing about any sort of accident.

"No. There must be some mistake. Huntsmaster wouldn't… kill my parents so he could raise me… would he?"

She closed down the terminal. "No. It's not true. It can't be."

-:-

Lily paced the floor anxiously. 'Miss Rose… Master Jake… Someone hurry!' She turned sharply as she heard someone approach the door, then looked over at Lian. The Lotus Dragon was sleeping uneasily. The bottom of her eyes were still open a bit, but her breathing was even and deeper than when she was awake.

Lily looked back to the door as one of the knobs twisted and Rose poked her head in. She slid the rest of the way in, revealing a large old book. As the door slammed shut, Lian jerked from her sleep.

Rose rushed toward Lian with a look of black rage deep in her icy eyes. "You're going to translate this for me, and you're not going to lie or I'll kill you here and now." She dropped the large book into Lian's lap.

"The Way of the Red Bloodline?" Lian looked up, cocking one eyebrow. "What's this about?"

Rose's gaze turned distant. "So that's why some names were in red …" She focused on the dragon again. "Half of that book has not been translated. I want to know what it says. Can you understand that language?"

Rose flipped a few pages so she could see. "Hmm? Yes. It's still decipherable. Robert taught me how to read this when we would… what is you say today? Hang out?"

Rose motioned for her to hurry. "What does it say? Read this table of contents for me."

"…The Beginning of a Bloodline… Determining those of the Red Bloodline… Names Belonging to the Red Bloodline… What it takes to become a Hunter of the Red Bloodline…"

"That one! Read that chapter to me!"

"Ah… the Red Bloodline will continue through… the hands of Hunters… not only with The Mark… but also who inherit… Draconic Prowess… through their ancestors blood…"

"Draconic Prowess? Dragon powers?"

"Yes. This is very interesting… I'm amazed this book has not been burned…"

"Ancestors blood? But we destroy dragons…"

"I told you. Half of the Hunters decided it was better to join them and make their side stronger than to kill them off, which wasn't fair either. Apparently, your clan calls them the Red Bloodline."

"Well, go on. Finish it!"

"… those who so inherit these traits will be called to track a dragon and lure it from it's own kind into the house of the Red Bloodline and bind them eternally."

"Bind them? Forever? Is that possible? We were taught that you kill them as quickly as possible or they'd always find a way to escape…"

"…um… Rose, is it? Rose… I think you're missing the point." It was Rose's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Eternally binding? As in vows? What ceremony includes vows, Rose?"

Roses eyes turned the size of dinner plates. "…No…NO WAY!"

"Shh! You know how much trouble you'll be in if He comes down here, now!" Rose clutched her head.

"…That means… If I'm part of the Red Bloodline… then… I'm a monster!"

Lian looked up, startled. "I beg your pardon."

"I'm a halfling! A daughter of a dragon! Oh, god… which one of my parents was… I think I'm going to be sick…"

Lily watched suspiciously. Was Miss Rose really part dragon? If she was… then she'd have to let them go! He jade eyes widened hopefully.

"Miss Rose! Miss Rose!" The girl turned with partially blank eyes. "Will you let Lily's brothers and sisters and Miss Lian go now?" She looked down at her hands with the same blank and devoid expression.

"…I can't…"

"MISS ROSE!" Lily's face turned angry. "PLEASE! LET THEM GO!" Rose looked over at her curiously.

"Why? I've been a hunter my entire life. Now, when suddenly everything seems to be falling apart, why should I turn into a dragon?"

"Rose… Thorn… Whoever you are, listen. Whether or not you choose to be a Dragon, that is what is in your blood. Through hunt; through fight; you cannot deny what sleeps inside. You can no more NOT be a dragon than you can NOT be a hunter." Lian's deep blue eyes shown with understanding. "Miss Hunter, you are and always will be what you are. And at the end of the day, you are the only one who has to live with your decisions."

"…You will too. My decision directly affects you."

"Yes. But all decisions directly affect someone else. I, or anyone else, can't tell you what to do or what to think. In the end, you are the one who makes the decision on who you are and what you do with that knowledge."

Rose blinked back angry tears. She didn't like this feeling. She'd been ripped from everything she'd known was true and plunged into this place of uncertainty. How could anyone live like this?

She turned and grabbed the keys she'd left in the door, then looked at the Well Wisher. "I will release you…"

"Thank you, Miss Rose! Oh, I can't wait to tell Master J-…"

"But, you still owe me a dragon."

"… Miss Rose… I will do as I promised." Lily hung her head. 'Lily will never get to tell Master Jake about Miss Rose… But Lily can still give Master Jake this much!' She passed her brothers and sister each a wish drop. "Take this! Become a human so Brothers and Sister can get out of here safely!"

Rose undid Lian's shackles. "No funny business." She flashed a knife that was attached to her belt. Lian nodded.

Suddenly, Rose noticed there was only one Well Wisher in the room and five humans. "Huh… Well Wishers are some kind of strange…" Lian smiled.

"You have no idea."

The humans all headed towards the door to follow Rose out. Rose looked back. Lily sat at the edge of the cage. "Well? Come on! You wanted to leave!"

Lily shook her head. "Lily asked for Brothers and Sister and Lian's freedom. Not Lily's. Lily will keep her promise."

Rose shrugged and turned to leave, shutting the door behind her as she led the others out.

Lian wiped away a stray tear when she reached the sanctuary like darkness of the corridor.

'Lily…'

**END CHAPTER 11: THE RED BLOODLINE**

Yes, I realize it's been a very very VERY long time. I apologize. My internet went down a while back and I've been unable to get it back up until now.

But, now I'm not sure what to do with this. There are two directions I could go, and I think everyone's only expecting one of them…

If you have an idea, be sure to let me know what you would like to see! You just might influence the turn out for Jake and Rose and Lily.

I want to thank all reviewers. I think this story might be over soon… ;; but I still need your help to finish this!


	12. Lily's Sacrifice

Disclaimer: No I don't own AD:JL

I HAVE 1411 HITS ON MY STORY! And no reviews for the last chapter… WAH! More than 80 people are really lazy. --()

-:-

Rose trooped out with the four of them. She knew they wouldn't have to worry about cameras until they got to the lobby and, if she had her way, they wouldn't be going that way. She began marching them through the main room she'd left through that morning and come back through that late afternoon. The Well Wishers crowded together in fear, but the dragon seemed to be looking about in curiosity. Rose didn't see what was so wondrous about it, but she wasn't a dragon who'd lived in solitude for… almost 500 years… Rose still had difficulty wrapping her mind around that.

She walked them to the outside and motioned for them to back up against the walls and let her out first. She checked to make sure there were no guards. There usually were at the door, unlike any other part of the headquarters, but tonight was a night of pre-celebration. The guards would either be preparing for the decapitation or they would be having a pre-party-party. 'Slackers…'

She whispered instructions on what to do to get as far away as quickly as they could without setting off the sensors in the city limits when she heard it.

A high pitched, anger infested scream of anguish and disbelief.

"**_THE DRAGON'S GONE!_**" Rose quickly pushed all of them into the bushes nearby before turning to see her silver haired cousin. "_YOU!_ YOU DID IT, DIDN'T YOU? YOU LITTLE HALFIE _MONSTER_!"

Rose only had time to gasp in shock as her cousin tackled her midsection and pinned her to the ground. "YOU STUPID WRETCH! DO YOU **REALIZE **WHAT YOU'VE DONE?" After three punches from the pajama clad Huntsgirl, Rose kicked her back into the wall of the building.

"Get lost, Sylvia! You don't know what you're talking about!" Rose flipped back, grabbing a small pellet off of her belt. Before she had the chance to throw it, two dark blurs shot out of the darkness. The red one picked Sylvia up and hung her on a tree branch in the "yard" of the apartment by her pajama top.

"You just hang out here, Huntsgirl. Cool your jets." He turned back to Rose. She was standing in a defensive position, but her eyes didn't hold the resolve they usually did. He realized that G was right. Something _had _happened. Sylvia began screaming again.

"Don't even bother with the defensive pose, Fiend! You're in cahoots with him, aren't you? After all the clan has done for you, you bimbo! You were never anything more than a stupid little half-line bimbo, just like your mother!"

Rose growled. "If you ever say that again, I'll…" She looked up in surprise as suddenly Sylvia hung her head and went to sleep. She then began to feel the pleasant vibrations from before on the roof. She looked at the bushes, where she'd left the four refugees. Lian stuck her head out and smiled, giving Rose a thumbs up.

Jake turned his attention to Rose. She glared at him. He noticed it didn't have the same glint in it as it had before. She was no long facing an unworthy adversary with loads of dumb luck. He took a step toward her, cautiously. She didn't step back, but her face didn't let up either.

He looked down at her, letting his expression read the pain of before, when he'd first known she was the Huntsgirl. It felt the same now, as she looked at him with neither loathing or love but with a new emotion he had no knowledge of, or where it came from.

Rose's eyes flashed sympathy. He looked as uncertain as she felt. And she couldn't explain it, but she no longer felt the extreme need to finish him. She felt the sudden urge to wrap her arms around his neck and say it was alright, even though she had no idea if it would be. She hung her head. The only other person she'd wanted to do that for was Jake Long… and she'd be lucky if he ever talked to her again after what had happened the evening a few hours ago.

Jake searched her eyes, then looked for his grandfather. He had spotted the Lotus dragon and a few teenagers hiding in the bushes and was having a whispered conversation with them. Jake turned back to Rose and stepped toward her again. They were now only an arms length away from each other and neither one was making a move at the other. Jake wondered if that was a good sign.

He turned to see lights start coming on in the building and realized he didn't have much time. He grabbed Rose's hands and held them between them. Rose jumped. 'What is he doing?'

"Listen, Rose, I want you to understand… I'm not angry at you, but I don't understand why you do the things that a Hunter does but… you still deserve to know the truth… about me and I just want you to know… you're one of the most important people to me… and since all the most important people in my life know my secret, it's only fair you do too…"

"W-wait a minute! How do you know my name? What do you mean, important and why are you saying this?" Her eyes were wide and the questions that filled them turned them almost white. She'd never been talked to this way by a mortal enemy. She noticed, too, that the lights in the building were starting to come on and he'd have to go, but she had so many questions!

Jake frowned. "The only answer I can give you right now, Rose is my name… My name is…"

Suddenly the door to the apartment building opened and the Huntspunk himself dashed out. "Thorn! Put your helmet on NOW!"

"Darius!" Jake looked back, noticing that Sylvia, the Quick Silver had awoken from her nap. "Darius! I told you she was trouble! She knows, Darius! The little bimbo knows! She released the Lotus Dragon! The American Dragon knows her true name! She's betrayed us, Master Darius!"

The Huntsmaster Stared at Rose angrily. "Is this true, Thorn? Did you release the dragon from our dungeon?" Jake stared at Rose in amazement.

'She did that…?'

Rose looked at the three pairs of eyes drilling into her and began stammering, "I-I… I didn't… I mean… I couldn't…"

The Huntsmaster didn't have time to growl before a large blue form shot out of the bushes and pinned him to the wall of the apartment building. The Lotus Dragon's startling midnight blue eyes drilled into his.

"…She called you DARIUS…" The growl sounded like an accusation of the most foul kind.

The Huntsmaster chuckled darkly. "Was there ever any doubt in your mind that I survived your treachery, Lian?" Her clawed hand squeezed around his neck. "If only dear Robert had been so lucky."

"You don't have the right to say that name, Traitor to your own Blood! A heart as dark and depraved as yours will only be stopped by the Guardian of Races hands, isn't that what you're wish induced prophecy predicts?" Her eyes reached a new darkness for midnight that Jake had not known existed. "That explains it! You think the girl has some connection with your undoing…"

The Huntsmaster lifted his arm and began pulling at her claws. "My own niece will not bring about my undoing, Lian. What sort of treachery are you bringing upon my family now?"

Lian grinned. "She knows, Darius. She doesn't know everything yet, but she knows of my true legacy. You are finished, Darius. She won't trust you when she finds out what you are capable of. Cheating you cousin out of his first dragon trial, scheming to send him to China so you could follow and get near the Well Wishers, poisoning your own Huntsmaster!"

He finally sent a kick to her midsection and sent her sprawling. "…and to think I did it all for you, Lian. I only wanted to see your children be the strongest and most superior of all races, but you had to follow Robert and his stupid plans! My line should have been the strongest in all the clan, not his! You are the one who cheated me out of everything!"

"Robert's plan wasn't about being the strongest, and you know it! That's why you had him killed!" She barreled back at him, the two teenagers watching in stunned admiration as the epic battle raged on, neither seemingly caring about physical pain, only determined to bring the other one down. "You would've seen me dead!"

"YES! And I still will! BuGu herself saw to that!"

"Your defiled wish was erased by BuGu's last will! You're wished prophecy is the only wish you have left standing!"

"…Before I caught a descendant of the great BuGu in my net of clan pride…"

"You mean in your web of deceit and lies!"

The continued battling without words for a while. Suddenly, G grabbed Jake by the tail and began dragging him away. "We must help the Well Wishers!"

Jake raised an eyebrow. Rose answered the unspoken question. "Three of them were hiding in the bushes… the fourth didn't leave the dungeon."

"…Lily?"

Rose's eyes widened. "How did you know her name?"

"I gave it to her." Jake was going to continue explaining to Rose, but Lao Shi was insistent.

"We must leave, now! The Well Wishers are more important!"

Jake relented, casting an apologetic glance at Rose, who had yet to put on her helmet. Sylvia suddenly put her arms around Rose's neck and held her, "Not so easy to get away from me, is it, bimbo?"

All of a sudden, the building began to rock dangerously to the left. After a loud crunch, it began moving back to the right. Lian and Darius stopped long enough to watch as pieces of plaster came crumbling down. Lian's eyes widened in horror.

"LILY!"

The Huntsmaster, no longer interested in the dragon, began yelling out orders for the building to be evacuated and he wanted a full report on what was happening now.

Using it as a diversion, Lao Shi pulled Lian away from the building much the way he'd pulled Jake from Rose. "We must save the ones we have here!" Lian nodded, wiping tears away as she did what every one of her instincts was screaming she shouldn't. Abandoning her charge.

She put the two male Wishers on her back and took off, following Lao Shi who was carrying the girl… possibly the last girl… Lian wiped away more tears. She'd been foolish, she realized, to chase a personal vendetta right then, when Lily needed to be gotten out of there. She would suffer for it, she realized, as her heart began tearing her insides to shreds as she left the smallest Well Wisher behind to deal with the swarm of hunters filing out of the building.

Rose stared at the building in shock. How had that little thing done this? That's when she heard it. The banging noise. Something was moving around in the dungeon. She puller her mask on and began heading for the door, passing a certain copper haired, honey eyed huntress as she did.

She barreled down the shaking stairwell towards the door, that was currently standing open at an odd angle.

"Lily?"

She looked inside to see a carbon copy of the American Dragon, only she had green eyes. Rose watched for a few moments as the wailing creature continued beating up the walls and beams of the room, planning on collapsing it.

"Lily must help master! A wish costs a lot! Lily will pay, though… Lily is not afraid!" She continued sobbing uncontrollably. Rose stepped in the door, suddenly feeling an enormous pain for the creature before her. Lily shook and shivered before collapsing on the ground. Rose gently patted the things head.

"Miss Rose, you must promise… you must promise to be happy with Lily's master!" The large dragon more and more resembled the tiny Well Wisher as she continued sobbing. "You must promise! Lily's sacrifice will be for nothing if Miss Rose rejects Lily's master…" She picked up the shackles Rose had removed from Lian and placed them in Rose's hands, as if signaling it was okay.

Rose put the shackles aside. "What do you mean, Lily? Who is your Master? Do you mean Lian?"

"No. No, Miss Lian is not Lily's master. Lily's master is the Am-Drag. He loves Miss Rose very much, you must believe me, Miss Rose. That is why Lily was at the old building. Lily has a life-debt to repay her Master. Master's only wish was that you and he could be together. Lily is doing all she can so Master's wish can be realized, but you have to agree, Miss Rose. Lily's work will have been for nothing if you do not."

Rose rubbed the dragon's back as if she were comforting a small child. "What do I have to agree to, Lily? Why is it so important?"

Lily's sobs slackened. Her jade eyes took on a look of innocent determination. "Miss Rose and Master deserve to have a happy ending. Lily has caused Master so much trouble… Miss Rose too… This is all Lily can do. Miss Rose used to love Master… Lily just hopes Miss Rose remembers before sunrise."

"What happens at sunrise, Lily?" Rose felt, suddenly, like a patronizing mother.

"…Miss Rose will have to kill Lily… That is the cost of the wish…"

-:-

When Lao Shi lead Lian to the store, she dropped her Well Wishers on the roof before turning around. Jake was staring at her.

"Where are you going?"

Lian made to push him aside. "I have to go get Lily. She's one of the last four. I can't just let her die."

Lao Shi shook his head. "Jake will see to that. But we have someone here who wishes to speak with the long lost Lotus Dragon." Lian turned to see several men in long cloaks and robes standing near the door to the building. "The Dragon Council."

Lian's eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"

A voice that she did not know the owner of answered. She couldn't see their faces clearly, so she wasn't sure which one of them had spoken.

"We want to know how you managed to hide from both Hunters and Dragon kind for 400 years, for a start."

"Talent and desperation, same as all survivors." She turned away from them. "Do not expect me to be grateful for your interference with the Hunters. I may have already lost one of my four charges."

"Yes, the Well Wishers," another faceless voice, "Another question we had."

"Well, ask someone else." She stepped toward the edge of the building. "I don't have time for your nonsense. And neither does Lily."

"But it will be better for both of you if you come quietly and answer our questions," She heard a snapping sound and watched as on every building in view suddenly had a dragon in a uniform, somewhat like a guard, sitting atop it.

Lian growled. "This isn't the time to be screwing around. My charge is in serious peril!" Jake put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'll go get Lily. I think her being in the Huntsclan's clutches is my fault, to begin with." Lian's eyes widened in disbelief.

"She's not your responsibility. I should have been more wary of a raid, then this never would have gotten this far."

"Maybe, but I gave Lily her name and she believes she owes me the life debt. If I hadn't jumped the gun, she might be here now instead of there."

Lian smiled slightly. "Alright. But, since you are going instead of me, you have to promise not to get hurt. It would be on my head if something happened."

Jake grinned. "Hey, no problem. I'm the Am-Drag, and the Am-Drag never looses to the Huntspunks."

Lian turned back to the Council as Jake took off again. "Alright," she muttered begrudgingly, "How can I help you?"

-:-

Rose couldn't speak. She just couldn't wrap her mind around what the Well Wisher had done. In only a few minutes, she'd convinced everyone that Rose had restrained the American Dragon and locked him in the dungeon for letting the Lotus Dragon loose.

She sat in her room, staring at her reflection in the mirror. How had this happened?

**END CHAPTER 12: LILY'S SACRIFICE**

Hehehe…. I bet you didn't see this one coming, huh? RandR if you know what's good for you! Holds up frying pan.


	13. In The Bloods

**I appreciate, no, I'm flattered that more than 100 readers like this story, but it don't mean crap unless you let me know what I need to work on!**

Sigh. Now that that's out of my system, I want 4 reviews before I submit the next chapter.

BTW, for those of you that were wondering, it's not that I don't want to write on this story or even that I don't know where to go with it, but my monitor got fried in a freak lightning storm, so this update won't be as long as the others, but I think everyone will leave this chapter with a warm, cuddly feeling. (AKA fluffy warning. My first fluffy, so be kind.)

-:-

Golden Arrow was looking down on the building where the three dragons had landed. She used her hang glider to maneuver herself to a nearby building and as soon as she had landed on top of a water tower on an apartment building, dragon with a uniform on appeared.

She glared down, listening to a walkie talkie the dragon had on his waist. "We're now escorting the Lotus Dragon to the New York branch of the Council Chambers. All units follow."

The copper haired huntress smiled behind her mask. 'Don't mind if I do.'

She followed them to an abandoned ware house near the docks and looked around, as if remembering every detail.

-:-

Lian looked around at the council. She was now in a dim room with one light shining down on her and the dragon council in front of her and the guards, she supposed, were behind her.

"Now, Miss Lian, where exactly have you been for the passed 450 years?"

She sighed. It was the same question they'd asked ten times. "In the remains of the Lotus Shrine."

"But the Lotus Shrine is gone. There are no remains. I've been to the site myself."

"Yes, yes. The dragon pilgrimage. Well, you were looking in the wrong place. Only a dry well exists on the surface, but it's been resting 450 years in the dried up underground rivers below the wells. There's nothing on the surface because BuGu moved it out of harms way when the hunters came. It was her last wish before her magic dried up."

"And you are still 15 because…"

Lian tried not to grit her teeth. Gods and Demons! These creatures sure were dense for dragons! "It's all part of her last will and testament. I, and my bloodline, are to forever protect the Well Wishers until there are no more to protect. I will remain the same age until I take on a husband, then and only then will I begin aging again."

"So if you've been so well hidden for 450 years, how is it that the hunters invaded your shrine, Miss Lian."

Lian snapped. In a blink of an eye, the room was filled with lotus petals and she was surrounded in a cyclone of water. "IF YOU ARE QUESTIONING MY HERITAGE, TAKE A GOOD LOOK! NO OTHER DRAGON LINE CAN TAKE THIS FORM!"

She heard one of them audibly gulp and grinned in impish satisfaction before reverting back to her human self.

She took a deep breath. "Now, if you don't mind, I believe we are done with the questioning for this evening and I would like very much to return to the matter at hand."

A counsel member, allegedly female from what Lian could make out, stood and barked at her. "That is no way to speak to your Counsel Members, Lost Lotus Line or no!"

Lian glared at her. "I did not vote for you, I did not pay your stupid dues and I won't have anything to do with your unorthodox rituals of bowing down to those younger, less wise and more ignorant than myself. And since we're on that subject, if you think for one moment that I'm going to help you with destroying the hunters, you can just rethink yourselves to death because my family's line has never caused problems and I don't intend to be the first."

The head counsel member, or maybe just the guy in the middle, Lian didn't know, pulled the girl who'd spoken back into her seat. "We cannot force you to do anything, Lian the Lotus, and we understand that, but things would go much smoother if you didn't fight us every step of the way."  
"Fine. Try asking something you haven't asked at least ten times now," she shot back.

"Alright. What was it like?"

She turned back to him, eyebrow raised. "What was what like?"

"Living for 450 years with nothing and no one but a legacy and four Well Wishers."

Lian took a deep breath and held it. She could feel their eyes on her as she began tearing. She tried so hard not to… not to even think about that… She'd lost everything in one fell swoop… She realized she was dying to tell someone her story.

"To understand that, you would have to understand how I lost them, and to understand that, you'd have to know what it's like to be young and… in love… even if it was a huge mistake."

The man in the middle made a motion and one of the guards rushed forward with a chair. "Tell us, Lian, so we have the chance to understand. There is no record of what happened after you went to England to marry Robert Hunter. What happened?"

-:-

Goldie opened the door of the apartment to find Rose in her pjs staring at her. "Rose! What are you doing up so late? You should be resting."

Rose wanted to cry. "Goldie… I can't sleep…"

"Oh! Ohohoh… Rosie…" She sat her cousin down in a chair. "Is it a boy problem? Was it that little up-chuck, Jake? I'll kill him!"

"No… No, Jake didn't do anything." She took a deep breath. "Goldie, I'm not who you think… I'm not a full-blooded Huntsgirl…"  
"Oh, Rosie… Is that all?" Rose gasped and stared up at her cousin. "Rosie, hardly anyone from Darius' side of the family is full-blooded."

"But, Goldie… not many people are… monsters…"

"Rosie… Rosie…" She hugged her cousin and stroked her hair. "You listen to Sylvia too much. She goes off the handle when she's angry. You're not a monster. Far from. You're the sweetest, most wonderful girl that I've ever met."

"Goldie… I let the Lotus Dragon go… It was my fault." She looked into her eyes expecting hate or shock. Instead, Goldie smiled.  
"I know."

Rose scrambled for words. "Are you… Aren't you angry?"

"No. Want to know why?" Rose nodded dumbly. "You aren't the only 'monster' in the clan, Rosie. But you are the only one with dragon in you."

"But… But I've seen you when you hunt! You're so focused and…"

"I have to be. I have a demon for a partner and she doesn't hesitate to eat her own kind." She laughed. "But once in a while, I 'slip up'. Like with the Well Wisher. I wish I wouldn't have had to leave her in that cold place, but I didn't have a choice. Sylvia was watching me like a hawk and it was the only time I had a moment."

Rose sat there dumbfounded. This was the biggest news since… two hours ago…

"Well… aren't you going to ask me?"

Rose stared at her blankly. "Ask you?"

"What I am?"

Rose shrugged, her head reeling. "Sure. Tell me."

"I'm part Amazon."

"Seriously? But… that's not a…"  
"Magical creature? They don't look like it, but their DNA is closer to fairies than it is to humans. Super human strength and speed. It's always a plus in our line of work," she cut sarcastically.

Rose paused and thought for a few moments. "So… If I… did something… unorthodox…" Goldie chuckled.

"I'll keep a look out. Go ahead. I won't tell." She smiled and put a finger to her lips.

Goldie smiled and waved as Rose walked down the stairs to the dungeon. Then she pulled out a walkie talkie similar to the one the dragon guard had been wearing.

"Did you guys get all that?" There was static for a moment before someone replied in a deep voice.

"Yes. Thank you so much, Golden Arrow."

She chuckled. "No problem."

-:-

Jake had landed in the apartment yard just in time to see a copper haired huntress dart into the apartment. He looked up at the slowly lighting sky and realized he didn't have much time. He slowly circled back to where he had heard the crying and glared at the small window slightly to the right. Without much thought on it, he punched in the glass. He paused to see if an alarm had gone off. Not hearing one, he slid into the dark room.

"Lily?"

"Master Jake?"

"Lily! Where's the light switch?" He began stumbling for one. "Don't worry, Lily. I'll get you out of here as soon as I…"

"Master, you must leave now! It's almost sun…"

_**Click.**_

Rose tried to get her eyes to focus in the sudden bright and gasped.

There were two red dragons in the room.

"Rose!"

"Dragon!"

"_What are you doing here?" _They asked in unison.

Jake grunted as he realized she only called him dragon. "Rose before this goes any further, there's something you have to know."

She watched him warily. "Lily said I have to be happy with you. She said you were her master…" Rose's eyes shot open. "She said you were her master… I've said that before…" Her eyes widened again…

Jake took a step forward. "Yes. Yes you have Rose." She backed up against the now closed cell door.

"She's that girl from school… She called Jake and you Master… so…" Jake stopped trying to come closer.

"Rose… I tried to tell you…"

Rose began shaking her head. "No… No! Nonononono!" She slid down the wall and sat curled up, shaking her head.

Jake couldn't stand seeing her like this. He de-dragoned and knelt next to her. "Rose… It's going to be okay…" He brushed some stray hair from her face. "I know it's a shock… I remember how I felt when I found out you were hunts girl…"

"You don't know the half of it." Her sarcasm was flat and humorless.

"What do you mean?" He sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm not just a Huntsgirl." She leaned her head back against his arm. She was sure she was going mad, but she didn't care. She wanted to talk to Jake. Only when she talked to Jake and the Lotus Dragon did anything make sense anymore.

"I know. You're Rose."

"No!" She jumped up and began pacing the room. "No! You don't know! NOBODY KNOWS! They think they do, but they don't!" She turned to him with a hopelessness in her eyes he'd never seen before. "I'm a halfie, Jake. Do you know what that means?" Jake shook his head and she continued pacing.

"I'm a freak! Not a hunter, not a dragon, NOT ANYTHING!"

Jake stuck his hands up. "Whoa, whoa! Hold on! Why did you just say…?"

"My mother and father weren't the conventional couple for a hunts clan family." She laughed humorlessly. "The handsome hunter/tress and the DRAGON!"

Jake's eyes widened. "Rose… do you ever feel… I don't know… dragon powers?"

"How am I supposed to be able to tell what's powers from hunter skills and training? I don't know!"

Suddenly, they heard a noise.

"Ohmigosh… Jake you have to take Lily and get out of here now!" She hit a button on a panel on the wall and the shackles came undone. "Go! That was the ceremonial bell. Soon all the hunters will be down here!"

Jake looked at her as he transformed back into Am-Drag. "I'm not leaving without you."

Rose gently stroked his now scaly cheek. "You don't have a choice." She gently kissed his cheek and grabbed the doorknob. "You only have a few moments. Get going!"

Lily had watched all of this intrigued. 'Maybe it'll be okay…'

Jake smiled at Rose, letting her know this would not be the last time they met and he turned to see Lily trying to slide out the window like he'd come in, only not with so much success.

"Lily is not used to such a big body!"

"Hey, now!"

"No offense, Master Jake."

As they got outside, they saw Rose and another girl come out the front door of the apartment and wave as Jake guided Lily away into dawn's first light.

Jake waved back, and suddenly felt the urge to do back flips mid air, but decided it would be better to put a little more distance between him and the hunters first.

-:-

When Rose and Goldie went back inside, they were confronted with a very interesting sight. A silver haired, nightgown clad she-demon.

She looked from one to the other, as if uncertain which to eat first. Goldie smiled innocently.

"Good morning, Quick Silver!"

"Shove it!" She spat as she stalked toward them. "YOU," she pointed to Goldie, "have ALWAYS been a thorn in my side, but never in my life have I ever seen as big a mess as YOU," she pointed to Rose, "HAVE JUST MADE!"

"I don't know what you're talking…" Before Rose could finish her sentence she felt her face jerk to one side and heard a loud SMACK.

"You be silent when your betters are speaking, monster!" She grunted. "I can't believe a good huntsman like your father would ever marry, let alone reproduce with, a scummy, disgusting, scaly piece of filth like your mother."

Rose jerked back and grabbed Sylvia by the throat. "THAT'S IT!"

**END CHAPTER 13: IN THE BLOODS**

Well, ladies and gents, it would seem we are nearing the close of the first book in this series. I see one more chapter before we need a sequel which I will NOT DO UNLESS I GET MORE REVIEWS! (please?)


End file.
